United States Attorney Ron Parsons announced that Stanley Patrick Weber, age 70, of Spearfish, South Dakota, was found guilty by a federal jury of 5 counts of Aggravated Sexual Abuse and 3 counts of Sexual Abuse of a Minor following a week-long jury trial in Rapid City, South Dakota.
Aggravated Sexual Abuse carries a penalty of a mandatory minimum of 30 years up to life in federal prison and/or a $250,000 fine, a minimum of 5 years up to lifetime supervised release, and a $500 special assessment to the Federal Crime Victims Fund. Sexual abuse of a minor carries a penalty of 15 years in federal prison and/or a $250,000 fine, a minimum of 5 years up to lifetime supervised release, and a $100 special assessment to the Federal Crime Victims Fund for each count. Restitution may also be ordered.
Evidence at trial established that Weber, while employed as a pediatrician with the Indian Health Services at Pine Ridge, sexually abused minors between 1999 and 2011.
“This defendant is the worst kind of sexual predator: a person placed in a position of trust – a pediatrician – who abused that position to rape and sexually assault the children entrusted to his care,” said U.S. Attorney Parsons. “I want to commend the courage and bravery of the men who came forward to testify about what happened to them as boys. I know that the jury’s unanimous verdict has brought them some measure of justice. I hope that it will bring them some measure of peace. Let us never forget that with the justice granted by these convictions comes an obligation shared by us all. We must resolve to do everything we can to ensure that nothing like this can ever happen again to any of our children in any of our communities.”
This case was investigated by the United States Health and Human Services, Office of Inspector General and the Bureau of Indian Affairs, Office of Justice Services. Assistant United States Attorneys Sarah B. Collins and Eric Kelderman prosecuted and tried the case. A sentencing date is set for February 10, 2020. Weber was remanded to the custody of the U.S. Marshals Service pending sentencing.
