GREAT FALLS — A person who accused a former Indian Health Services pediatrician of sexual abuse has accepted a six-figure settlement with the federal government, the law firm representing the victim announced.
Stanley Patrick Weber had been convicted in Montana and South Dakota for sexually abusing young boys three decades ago on the Blackfeet and Pine Ridge Indian Reservations, the Great Falls Tribune reported Wednesday.
The Law Offices of David P. Sheldon had filed a claim in 2019 on behalf of a member of the Blackfeet Tribe who accused Weber of sexual abuse during the 1990s.
The claim alleged that the Indian Health Services and the U.S. Public Health Service were negligent in their supervision of Weber and knew or should have known about the doctor’s sexual abuses.
David P. Sheldon said his client, a minor when he was abused by Weber, is relieved that the case is now settled.
“This settlement goes a long way to begin to right the wrongs caused by Dr. Weber, but so many other young men who lived on both the Blackfeet Reservation and the Pine (Ridge) Reservation were victimized,” Sheldon said. “This really only begins to address the wrongs committed against many other young men who were victimized by Dr. Weber.”
Weber is currently in federal prison. He appealed both of his criminal cases and lost his Montana appeal in 2020. His South Dakota appeal was also rejected this month.