Phillip Dale Wilson, 72, of Tahlequah, Oklahoma, has been sentenced to 17 years in federal prison for sexually abusing multiple children over a period of 16 years. The investigation, conducted by the FBI and the Cherokee County Sheriff’s Office, revealed that Wilson abused six children, all under the age of 16, between 1999 and 2015.
Wilson pleaded guilty to two counts of Abusive Sexual Contact in Indian Country in December 2023. The crimes occurred within the Cherokee Nation Reservation in Eastern Oklahoma.
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“This case demonstrates the commitment of the FBI to investigate anyone who would harm the most vulnerable members of the community, our children,” said FBI Oklahoma City Special Agent in Charge Doug Goodwater. “The FBI will continue to work with our law enforcement partners to relentlessly pursue child sex offenders and send them to federal prison where they belong.”
“Due in large part to the bravery of the victims and the exceptional investigative work of the Cherokee County Sheriff’s Office and the FBI, the defendant will likely spend the rest of his life behind bars,” said United States Attorney Christopher J. Wilson. “No prison sentence can undo the physical and emotional damage the defendant inflicted on his victims, but I hope they can have some measure of peace in knowing the defendant no longer poses a threat to them or other children.”
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Chief District Judge Raúl M. Arias-Marxuach, presiding over the hearing in Muskogee, Oklahoma, sentenced Wilson to 204 months on each count, to be served concurrently.
Wilson will remain in custody pending transportation to a federal prison facility to serve his sentence.
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