PORTLAND, Ore.—John Joseph Wallace, Jr., 35, of Madras, Oregon, was sentenced today to 72 months in prison and life term of supervised release for the repeated sexual abuse of a minor.

According to court documents, the government’s investigation of Wallace began in January 2018, when Warm Springs Tribal Police officers responded to Wallace’s home on the Warm Springs Indian Reservation. Officers were responding to a report that Wallace had abused a young girl. The minor victim and her mother, who contacted police to report Wallace’s crimes, are both Warm Springs tribal members.

An investigation later revealed that Wallace, over a period of years, had repeatedly abused the child by touching her breasts, buttocks, and genitals, both over and under her clothing. Wallace used his cell phone to communicate with the child and facilitate multiple incidents of abuse at his home on the reservation and on a separate occasion in Madras.

On January 3, 2019, Wallace pleaded guilty in federal court to three counts of abusive sexual contact with a minor. In a related state court matter, Jefferson County Circuit Court Judge Annette C. Hillman found Wallace guilty of attempted sexual abuse in the first degree and official misconduct in the first degree. Wallace will be sentence in state court on April 12, 2019.

This case was investigated by FBI Portland’s Safe Trails Task Force, the Warm Springs Tribal Police Department, and the Oregon Department of Justice. It was prosecuted federally by Paul T. Maloney, Assistant U.S. Attorney for the District of Oregon.

The Safe Trails Task Force (STTF) unites FBI and other federal, state, local, and tribal law enforcement agencies in a collaborative effort to combat the growth of crime in Indian Country. STTF allows participating agencies to combine limited resources and increase investigative coordination in Indian Country to target violent crime, drugs, gangs, and gaming violations.

Anyone who has information about the physical or online exploitation of children are encouraged to call the FBI at (503) 224-4181 or submit a tip online at www.fbi.gov/tips.