In 2007 after a bungled investigation, federal agents from the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) closed the case of a serial rapist targeting Native American teens, knowing the perpetrator was still at large.

They didn't warn the community. Instead, the agents accepted commendations and cash awards for their work in supposedly catching the rapist.

At least 17 girls, as young as 13-year-old, had been raped when the BIA stopped its investigation. One of the agents admitted that 46 more similar rapes had been reported since the case had been closed. Nothing was done.

Native Women face a sexual assault rate 2.5 times higher than other women in the United States, because the power of tribal courts is limited and U.S. law enforcement also fail to protect them.

Demand that the Bureau of Indian Affairs apologize for putting girls at risk through failure to notify the community of a real danger, reopen the investigation into the violent rapes still occurring in 2007, and hold accountable the agents who accepted awards when they knew the serial rapist had not been caught.

Photo credit: Toby Otter