An 82-year-old Browning man has been convicted of raping two women on the Blackfeet Indian Reservation in 2018.
On Jan. 15, a jury convicted Alphonse Bird on one count of aggravated sexual abuse and one count of sexual abuse following a two-day trial in U.S. District Court in Great Falls. The jury acquitted Bird on a second count of aggravated sexual abuse.
According to federal prosecutors, Bird assaulted two different women in 2018. On both occasions he picked them up in his car and then assaulted them. In both instances, the victims immediately reported Bird to law enforcement. DNA evidence also connected Bird to both women.
“Mr. Bird posed a serious danger to women in the community. We know that Native American women face too much violence, including sexual violence, and it must stop. Those who prey on women will face prosecution to the full extent of the law. I want to thank Assistant U.S. Attorney Kalah Paisley, the FBI, Bureau of Indian Affairs and Blackfeet Law Enforcement Services for their work investigating and prosecuting this case,” said U.S. Attorney Kurt Alme.
Bird will be sentenced on May 21.