The U.S. Attorney’s Office in Colorado on Friday announced that Lyndreth Hemp Wall of Towaoc, a member of the Ute Mountain Ute Tribal Council and a recent member of the Montezuma-Cortez Board of Education, has been indicted on 12 counts of sexual abuse on tribal land.

Wall has been a prominent figure in Cortez and Towaoc politics and education for years.

He was sworn in Nov. 3 for a third term as councilman for the Ute Mountain Ute Tribe after winning a recount of the election by six votes on Oct. 24, as confirmed by a source from the Ute Mountain Ute Tribe.

He also is a former member of the Montezuma-Cortez RE-1 Board of Education. Leland Collins was elected to Wall’s seat in District D in November after losing the Tribal Council election to Wall the month before.

And Wall was an outspoken supporter of Towaoc’s Kwiyagat Community Academy, which opened in 2020.

According to the indictment from a federal grand jury, Wall, 58, is alleged to have committed eight counts of sexual abuse and four counts of abusive sexual contact on the reservation.

If Wall is convicted of the charges of alleged sexual abuse “in Indian Country,” he could face a sentence of life in prison.

Wall made his first appearance in court on Friday at 9 a.m. in U.S. Magistrate Judge James Candelaria’s courtroom in Durango. He was arrested on Thursday.

Wall’s arraignment, detention and discovery hearings are set for Thursday, Jan. 18 at 1 p.m. in U.S. District Court room 150 in Durango before Candelaria.

The acts cited in the 12 counts allegedly occurred from 1997 to 2017. They involve four females, who were led to believe that Wall was acting as a “healer engaged in traditional healing methods,” during the alleged sexual acts. They also considered him to be “a prominent figure” in their “social group.”

Documents obtained by The Journal said that Wall forced sexual acts on the victims through fear or threats, or the victim “was either incapable of appraising the nature of the conduct or was physically incapable of declining participation in, or communicating an unwillingness to engage in the sexual contact.”

At least one of the four women was under the age of 16, according to the grand jury indictment.

Counts 1-3 involved Victim number 1, who was identified to be a female under 16 years old at the time of the abuse, which occurred on, about or between Jan. 4, 1997 to Jan. 3, 2013.

The alleged acts of abuse were done twice in a room at Wall’s home “designed as a room for treating others by traditional methods” and in a PT Cruiser vehicle.

Counts 4-7 involved Victim number 2, a female, on, about or between Jan. 1, 2015 to July 7, 2017.

The alleged assaults/abuse took place in a room at his home twice, at his father’s home after luring Victim 2 there with promises to “provide Victim 2 with meat” and outside his car after driving Victim 2 home.

Twice, Wall allegedly told her that he “needed to have sexual intercourse with Victim 2 to ‘exchange energy’ to treat Victim 2.”

Counts 8-9 involved Victim 3, a female and a friend of Victim 2. These counts took place on, about, or between Jan. 1, 2017 to July 11, 2017.

The alleged assaults/abuse of Victim 3 took place outside of a “ceremony” Wall was reportedly performing at Victim 2’s home, telling Victim 3 that he did it to “protect Victim 3 from men” and at an outdoor location at the reservation.

Counts 10-12 involved Victim 4, a female, on or about Jan. 1, 2014 to July 13, 2017.

The first alleged account of Victim 4’s assaults/abuse occurred at Wall’s home, where he became upset when she questioned why she needed to take her clothes off. Wall allegedly told her “that he needed to touch her to heal her, and Victim 4 was fearful of not being healed.”

The second count also took place at his home, and the third took place at a rural location on the Ute Mountain Ute Reservation. Again, when Victim 4 questioned why she needed to remove her clothes, Wall allegedly told her that if she refused, he would not heal a family member that she wanted to be healed.

According to the indictment, these assaults/abuse were performed “with the intent to abuse, humiliate, harass, degrade, arouse and gratify the sexual desires of a person.”

The FBI and BIA ask that anyone who has information about this case or other possible victims to call the FBI Denver office at (303) 629-7171.