Herbert Ben, Sr., Rosabelle Ben, Bruce Hamilton, Child Sex Abuse, New Mexico 2014

Three Shiprock Residents Sentenced for Child Sex Abuse

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. – In a disturbing case of child sex abuse, three residents of Shiprock, New Mexico, were sentenced in federal court for their convictions on child sexual abuse charges. The three defendants, Herbert Ben, Sr., Rosabelle Ben, and Bruce Hamilton, each received prison sentences for their roles in the abuse of a Navajo child.

Herbert Ben, Sr., a 63-year-old member of the Navajo Nation, and Bruce Hamilton, a 77-year-old non-Indian, were each sentenced to 48 months in prison. Rosabelle Ben, a 58-year-old member of the Jicarilla Apache Nation, was sentenced to 40 months in federal prison. Each of the defendants will be on supervised release for five years and will be required to register as a sex offender after completing their prison sentences.

The three defendants were arrested in May 2012, based on a criminal complaint alleging child sex abuse offenses. They subsequently were indicted and charged with sexual abuse of a child between the age of 12 and 16 years, and aiding and abetting the sexual abuse of a child, at a location within the Navajo Indian Reservation.

Herbert Ben, Sr., pled guilty on July 31, 2013, to sexual abuse of a minor and admitted to sexually abusing the victim on a day between Aug. 2010 and Dec. 2011. On Aug. 19, 2013, Hamilton pled guilty to sexual abuse of a minor and admitted to sexually abusing a Navajo child between the age of 12 and 15 years on a date between Aug. 2010 and Dec. 2011. Rosabelle Ben entered a guilty plea on Oct. 29, 2014, to being an accessory to sexual abuse of a minor and admitted to making the victim available to Hamilton, who sexually abused the victim.

This case was investigated by the Farmington office of the FBI and the Shiprock office of the Navajo Nation Division of Public Safety. It was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Jacob A. Wishard and Novaline D. Wilson as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative launched in May 2006 by the U.S. government to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse.

Each of the defendants will serve their prison sentences for their roles in the abuse of a Navajo child, a disturbing reminder of the need for continued vigilance in protecting our children from predators.

MORE FEDERAL CRIME NEWS

Sex Crimes

Santos Jovany Quintanilla, Production of Child Pornography, Maryland 2023

May 31, 2017

Sex Crimes

Rasul Abernathy, Sex Trafficking, Pennsylvania 2013

Jul 14, 2015

Sex Crimes

Benjamin Munson, Child Exploitation, New York 2024

May 22, 2024

Sex Crimes

Joseph Saunders, Child Pornography, Texas 2015

Apr 30, 2015