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Wolf Point man sentenced for felony child abuse

Posted at 2:27 PM, Jun 18, 2020
and last updated 2020-06-18 17:46:30-04

GREAT FALLS — Mychal Thomas Damon of Wolf Point, a former tribal police officer who admitted touching a child’s genitals on the Fort Peck Indian Reservation, was sentenced in federal court in Great Falls on Thursday.

Damon, 28 years old, pleaded guilty in February 2020 to felony child abuse.

The prosecution said that the crime occurred in May 2018 when the victim, who was under the age of 14, and her mother spent the night at Damon’s house. During the night, the victim got up and sat with Damon on a recliner. Damon placed his hand inside the girl’s shorts and touched her in the genital area.

The child later told a family member that she didn’t like sitting in the chair with Damon because he "scratched her on her hoo-hoo." The family member confronted Damon about the allegation. Subsequently, the child's daycare provider overheard the family member tell another child that Damon touched her in her "private."

During a counseling session with a therapist, the child said, “Mychal touched me.” She said that "a cop" told her to lay down beside him. She didn’t want to, but she did what he asked. The defendant put his fingers in her “hoo hoo,” and it hurt because his fingernail scratched her, according to court documents.

Initially, Damon denied the accusation, but eventually admitted to FBI agents that he had touched the child inappropriately.

U.S. District Judge Brian Morris presided, and sentenced Damon to to time served of 324 days in custody and two years of supervised release, U.S. Attorney Kurt Alme said in a news release.

Assistant U.S. Attorneys Cassady Adams and Lori Suek prosecuted the case, which was investigated by the FBI and the Wolf Point Police Department.