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SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — A former Ute tribal leader in Utah has been convicted child sexual abuse charges.
Richard Jenks Jr. of Fort Duchesne was found guilty Thursday of one count of aggravated sexual abuse of a child and two counts of a sexual abuse of a minor.
Prosecutors say the 57-year-old man sexually abused the girl from the time she was 10 years old until she was 16.
His lawyer Rudy Bautista says the 57-year-old Jenks is innocent. He says the defense couldn't show all the evidence they wanted to, and will appeal the case.
Jenks faces a minimum of 30 years in prison.
He previously served on the Ute Tribe Business Committee, a six-member panel that exercises executive and legislative power in northeastern Utah's Uintah-Ouray Indian Reservation. His last term ended in 2013.
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