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Crime

Child Sex Abuse Nets Browning Man 18 Years in Prison

Michael James Burke, 43, was convicted in October of federal crimes that occurred two decades ago, including aggravated sexual abuse of a child

By Beacon Staff

A Browning man convicted of sexually abusing two girls approximately 20 years ago on the Blackfeet Indian Reservation was sentenced March 20 to 18 years and nine months in prison, to be followed by 10 years of supervised release, U.S. Attorney Jesse Laslovich stated in a press release.

Following a two-day trial last October, a federal jury convicted Michael James Burke, 43, of two counts of aggravated sexual abuse of a child and a separate count of abusive sexual contact of a child.

Chief U.S. District Judge Brian M. Morris presided over the trial, during which federal prosecutors demonstrated that Burke committed numerous sexual acts against his young victims, identified in court documents only as Jane Doe 1 and Jane Doe 2. The abuse occurred over a multi-year period and took place in Browning, records state.

According to an offer of proof, Burke sexually abused Jane Doe 1 between 2000 and 2003 and Jane Doe 2 between 1999 and 2002. Both victims were under the age of 12 at the time. Burke threatened the victims and told them both that no one would believe them. The victims ultimately disclosed the sexual abuse to officials in 2017.

The government said in its sentencing memo that the victims sustained significant emotional trauma and included a statement from Jane Doe 1 about how the sexual abuse has affected her life. In her statement, Jane Doe 1 said she grew up with depression, anxiety, PTSD and low self-esteem.

“For a good majority of my pre-teens I was afraid for my life and my family’s life because of the threats that were made. If I said anything or told anyone about what happened I was afraid of someone or myself getting severely injured, which is why it took me so long to get help,” Jane Doe 1 said in her statement. “I do my best to avoid anything that triggers all of the horrible memories, which is quite stressful. Having gone through all of this I’m very physically, emotionally, and mentally exhausted. …I’m still healing from all of this and know I will unfortunately be dealing with this for the rest of my life.”

The U.S. Attorney’s Office prosecuted the case, which was investigated by the FBI and Blackfeet Law Enforcement Services.