Dunseith foster parent and former school counselor sentenced to 30 years for sexually abusing child

Hannah Shirley, Grand Forks Herald

Feb. 18—Roger Ricky Counts, 52, of Dunseith, N.D., has been sentenced to 30 years in federal prison and lifetime supervised release for aggravated sexual abuse.

The FBI began investigating Counts for sexual abuse of minors in July 2017 after an 8-year-old child disclosed sexual abuse while Counts was a foster parent, according to a release from the U.S. Attorney's Office. Court documents show that a second child later disclosed abuse.

Counts had served as foster parent for other children in the Turtle Mountain community, the release states. He also was a school counselor, and regularly saw his victims at school, court documents show.

A jury found Counts guilty of aggravated sexual abuse of a child on Feb. 14, 2020.

"The defendant's horrifying conduct was magnified by his abuse of the trust placed in him as a foster parent," U.S. Attorney Drew Wrigley said in a statement. "The child victim was courageous to come forward and share the truth about these crimes so that justice could be served."

This case was investigated by the FBI and the Bureau of Indian Affairs and was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Matthew Greenley, according to the release.

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