Minnesota man convicted of sexually abusing girls on Crow Reservation

A federal jury convicted a man earlier this week of sexually abusing two girls on the Crow Reservation.

Robert Dean Dust was found guilty in U.S. District Court on two counts of abusive sexual contact of a child and one count of aggravated sexual abuse. The criminal charges against Dust, a 35-year-old man from Minnesota, followed two women reporting to authorities that Dust had abused them at a home in Lodge Grass while they were both underage.

Over a period of several years, according to testimony shared during the two-day trial, Dust sexually abused both survivors while he was staying at their Lodge Grass home. The two girls were under the age of 10. Dust was in his 20s.

In May 2024, the survivors contacted law enforcement and described the abuse at length. In October that same year, a federal agent interviewed Dust. While initially denying the accusations, court documents said, he eventually admitted in the interview to raping one of the survivors. The FBI and the Bureau of Indian Affairs investigated the case.

Dust was indicted in U.S. District Court in July. After pleading not guilty to the charges, he was released from custody leading up to his trial, held at the James F. Battin Federal Courthouse in Billings.

Nationwide, Indigenous girls and women endure rates of sexual violence substantially higher than any other group of people. Over half of all Native American woman in the U.S. have experienced sexual violence during their lifetime, according to data published by the National Congress of American Indians.

With his conviction, Dust was taken into custody and will remain at Yellowstone County Detention Facility until his sentencing. For aggravated sexual abuse, he faces a mandatory minimum of 30 years in federal prison.

Earlier this month, a federal jury convicted musician and former Crow legislator Jared Cordell Stewart  of sexually abusing a girl at a  home in Dunmore. Stewart is currently awaiting sentencing and faces up to life in prison.