Overview:
A former tribal council member who presented himself as a spiritual healer was sentenced for sexual crimes spanning at least 12 years.
Lyndreth Hemp Wall, 60, a former tribal councilman of the Ute Mountain Ute Tribe, on Tuesday, August 18, was sentenced to life in prison after being convicted on 15 counts of sexual abuse in Indian Country and abusive sexual contact in Indian Country. Wall’s crimes involved five victims, including a minor.
Wall was elected to the Ute Mountain Ute Tribal Council in 2020 and is a former school board member in Montezuma-Cortez School District Re-1. He presented himself as a traditional Native American healer, sometimes referred to in some tribes as a “medicine man,” according to trial documents.
For at least 12 years, Wall sexually exploited multiple women on the Ute Mountain Ute Reservation under the guise of spiritual treatment. Survivors reported that he created an elaborate ruse by using traditional elements of Ute healing to trick his victims into believing his actions were part of a healing ceremony. During his “ceremonies,” Wall isolated victims alone and touched them sexually for his own gratification. Wall told multiple victims that, if they told anyone about his sexual touching, the healing would not work.
During the trial, the jury heard from the five women who alleged that Wall had committed sexual abuse in Towaoc, Colo. The jury returned guilty verdicts for abuse of all five women charged in the indictment. The jury also heard from a sixth woman who alleged Wall had sexually assaulted her in Alamosa and Lone Tree in 2020 and 2021 under a rule of evidence that permits evidence of other sexual assaults.
“Female tribal members came to this defendant for spiritual healing. They trusted him to help them in the ways of the Ute Mountain Ute Tribe, of which he was a leader. Instead of helping them, he took advantage of them, a sickening betrayal that has lasting implications for the survivors of his sexual assaults,” said FBI Denver Special Agent in Charge Amanda Koldjeski. “The FBI will continue to aggressively investigate sexual assaults on tribal lands to identify and remove perpetrators like this one, who now faces the consequence of his treachery.”
Wall also faces two separate allegations of sexual assault in Colorado state court. The charges in those pending cases are only allegations, and all defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.
