Lena Chipps talks about her brother-in-law, a medicine man who a federal grand jury has indicted on 15 counts of rape, sexual abuse and intimidation of minor victims.
Allegations of child sex abuse are complicated by a legal maze in Indian country
In WANBLEE, S.D.He was a world-famous medicine man, a traditional healer and spiritual leader. Followers would travel long distances to this tiny hamlet on the Great Plains to be in his presence and pray in the darkness with him in a sacred sweat lodge.
But Charles Chipps Sr., a medicine man on the Pine Ridge Indian reservation, had a dark secret, federal prosecutors say.
For years, they allege, Chipps sexually abused and raped girls, including some of his own daughters and granddaughters; many of the alleged victims were younger than 12 and several were as young as 5. A girl from Colorado whose aunt brought her to meet Chipps for spiritual guidance committed suicide after revealing the abuse she allegedly suffered.
TOP: Lena Chipps, shown near the skeleton of a sweat lodge, is the sister-in-law of Charles Chipps Sr., above, who is accused of sexually abusing girls for years on an Indian reservation. The allegations against Chipps have torn his family apart, with some relatives and friends supporting him and others shunning him. Now 67, the medicine man has pleaded not guilty. (Obtained by The Post)
The sexual abuse of children has long been regarded as a rampant if largely unspoken problem on Native American reservations, in part a legacy of a boarding school system that was designed to assimilate students and subjected them to widespread sexual, emotional and physical abuse, according to Native leaders and prosecutors. But Chipps’s case, as described in court testimony, is among the most shocking — entailing allegations that a respected elder sexually abused at least six girls.
It is also an illustration of the ways in which the federal, state and tribal legal maze that governs Indian country can complicate the pursuit of justice and, in Chipps’s case, allowed him to go free for three years after he was first jailed.
Child sexual abuse on the reservations is at the root of the many problems that follow for Indian children — depression, alcohol and drug abuse, juvenile detention andsuicide, according to Indian country experts. The challenge of getting victims to speak out — common in child sexual assault cases anywhere — is exacerbated by the close-knit nature of the remote communities where they live.
The U.S. attorney for South Dakota, Brendan V. Johnson, said that sexual violence is one of the most common criminal offenses on the nine reservations where he shares criminal jurisdiction with the tribes, but it is extremely difficult to bring charges.
“Victims are placed under tremendous pressure by family members and friends to recant their stories,” said Johnson, who declined to discuss details of the Chipps case. “The complaint will come in, the victims will be forensically interviewed and will provide us with specific facts about what happened and then, months later, will recant their stories.”
The allegations against Chipps have torn his family apart, with some relatives and friends supporting him and others shunning him. Now 67, the medicine man has pleaded not guilty. His lawyer says he is too sick and mentally incompetent to stand trial.
In a brief interview, he declined to discuss his client’s case further.
In a place of desperation, Chipps was a source of healing. He inherited his spiritual position in the tribe and became a renowned medicine man on Pine Ridge and beyond, even releasing a CD of ceremonial songs. He made his home about eight miles out of town in a family compound in the shadow of the Eagle Nest Butte.
It is also an illustration of the ways in which the federal, state and tribal legal maze that governs Indian country can complicate the pursuit of justice and, in Chipps’s case, allowed him to go free for three years after he was first jailed.
Child sexual abuse on the reservations is at the root of the many problems that follow for Indian children — depression, alcohol and drug abuse, juvenile detention andsuicide, according to Indian country experts. The challenge of getting victims to speak out — common in child sexual assault cases anywhere — is exacerbated by the close-knit nature of the remote communities where they live.
The U.S. attorney for South Dakota, Brendan V. Johnson, said that sexual violence is one of the most common criminal offenses on the nine reservations where he shares criminal jurisdiction with the tribes, but it is extremely difficult to bring charges.
“Victims are placed under tremendous pressure by family members and friends to recant their stories,” said Johnson, who declined to discuss details of the Chipps case. “The complaint will come in, the victims will be forensically interviewed and will provide us with specific facts about what happened and then, months later, will recant their stories.”
The allegations against Chipps have torn his family apart, with some relatives and friends supporting him and others shunning him. Now 67, the medicine man has pleaded not guilty. His lawyer says he is too sick and mentally incompetent to stand trial.
In a brief interview, he declined to discuss his client’s case further.
The little blue house
The village of Wanblee, population approximately 725, is located on the northeastern edge of the Pine Ridge reservation, where 87 percent of the tribe is unemployed. It has a tiny post office, a small convenience market, a school and a health clinic, but little else.In a place of desperation, Chipps was a source of healing. He inherited his spiritual position in the tribe and became a renowned medicine man on Pine Ridge and beyond, even releasing a CD of ceremonial songs. He made his home about eight miles out of town in a family compound in the shadow of the Eagle Nest Butte.
It was in a little blue house and a log cabin in that compound that Chipps abused girls and young women who came to him for spiritual guidance, according to the indictment against him and other court documents. He also allegedly sexually assaulted them on his nearby sacred ceremonial grounds, forcing them to disrobe and engage in sexual acts in the darkness of the sweat lodge.
From 2002 to 2007, according to court documents, the South Dakota Department of Social Services and the tribe’s social services agency received nearly a dozen reports in which minors told people close to them that they had been sexually assaulted by Chipps. In most cases, the young accusers failed to repeat the claims before investigators.
In June 2009, a rookie Oglala Sioux tribal police officer from Wanblee, Samuel Pretty Bear Sr., responded to a call at the compound from Chipps’s son. The son said he had long feared his father, Pretty Bear recalled, but had information he wanted to share.
“He explained to me what was going on out there, and it wasn’t right,” Pretty Bear said in an interview. “He has kids of his own, and he was afraid for their safety.”
From 2002 to 2007, according to court documents, the South Dakota Department of Social Services and the tribe’s social services agency received nearly a dozen reports in which minors told people close to them that they had been sexually assaulted by Chipps. In most cases, the young accusers failed to repeat the claims before investigators.
In June 2009, a rookie Oglala Sioux tribal police officer from Wanblee, Samuel Pretty Bear Sr., responded to a call at the compound from Chipps’s son. The son said he had long feared his father, Pretty Bear recalled, but had information he wanted to share.
“He explained to me what was going on out there, and it wasn’t right,” Pretty Bear said in an interview. “He has kids of his own, and he was afraid for their safety.”
Pretty Bear removed four of Chipps’s grandchildren from the compound. A few days later, three more children were removed. Some were placed into foster care, and others went to live with other family members.
“Don’t tell them nothing about us,” Chipps warned one girl, according to court testimony from a state counselor who talked to the girl.
About a month later, Chipps was arrested on tribal child sex abuse charges and placed in a Pine Ridge jail. Then, nothing happened.
“We did our report,” said Pretty Bear. “We did what was asked of us as police officers and never heard anything about it after that.”
Although tribes have their own governments and court systems, the responsibility for prosecuting felony crime, such as sexual assault and rape, generally falls to the Justice Department. In this case, the U.S. attorney’s office for South Dakota opened an investigation but did not have enough evidence to bring federal charges.
Tribal authorities tried to obtain the limited evidence that federal investigators had, but federal officials would not share it.
In 2010, after a year with no charges by the U.S. attorney’s office — and no access to any evidence the FBI had collected — tribal law required that Chipps be let go.
He was free for another three years.
One day, about a year after Chipps was released from jail, she began talking with a 13-year-old girl who had been acting out. Something was deeply wrong.
“I said, wouldn’t it feel better if you just told Ms. Beth everything that’s inside and you got it out?” Carnes later testified in court. “And she said yes. And we went in my office, and she told me the whole thing.”
The girl told Carnes that the medicine man had been sexually abusing her since she was 5. She also said Chipps had recently insisted on seeing her, which she said was a violation of an order from a tribal agency that he not have any contact with any of the alleged victims.
As a school counselor, Carnes was legally obligated to report what she had been told. She did.
“Don’t tell them nothing about us,” Chipps warned one girl, according to court testimony from a state counselor who talked to the girl.
About a month later, Chipps was arrested on tribal child sex abuse charges and placed in a Pine Ridge jail. Then, nothing happened.
“We did our report,” said Pretty Bear. “We did what was asked of us as police officers and never heard anything about it after that.”
Although tribes have their own governments and court systems, the responsibility for prosecuting felony crime, such as sexual assault and rape, generally falls to the Justice Department. In this case, the U.S. attorney’s office for South Dakota opened an investigation but did not have enough evidence to bring federal charges.
Tribal authorities tried to obtain the limited evidence that federal investigators had, but federal officials would not share it.
In 2010, after a year with no charges by the U.S. attorney’s office — and no access to any evidence the FBI had collected — tribal law required that Chipps be let go.
He was free for another three years.
Crazy Horse School
Beth Carnes, a non-Native counselor at Crazy Horse School in Wanblee, had a gentle manner and a way of talking and listening respectfully to children.One day, about a year after Chipps was released from jail, she began talking with a 13-year-old girl who had been acting out. Something was deeply wrong.
“I said, wouldn’t it feel better if you just told Ms. Beth everything that’s inside and you got it out?” Carnes later testified in court. “And she said yes. And we went in my office, and she told me the whole thing.”
The girl told Carnes that the medicine man had been sexually abusing her since she was 5. She also said Chipps had recently insisted on seeing her, which she said was a violation of an order from a tribal agency that he not have any contact with any of the alleged victims.
As a school counselor, Carnes was legally obligated to report what she had been told. She did.
