From the Courts: Hays man convicted of sexually abusing minor girl sentenced to three years in prison

U.S. Attorney's Office, District of Montana

GREAT FALLS — A Hays man convicted by a federal jury of sexually abusing a minor girl on the Fort Belknap Indian Reservation was sentenced on May 1 to three years and 10 months in prison, to be followed by five years of supervised release, U.S. Attorney Jesse Laslovich said.

Following a three-day trial, the jury Oct. 5, 2023 found Daniel Jacob Werk, 38, guilty of sexual abuse of a minor, as charged in an indictment.

Chief U.S. District Judge Brian M. Morris presided.

In court documents and at trial, the government alleged that from July 2021 to October 2021, Werk repeatedly sexually abused a 15-year-old girl on the Fort Belknap Indian Reservation. Werk, who was the program coordinator for the Fort Belknap Grassland Restoration Project, a program designed to provide opportunities for at-risk Native youth, recruited the girl, identified as Jane Doe, into the program and then repeatedly engaged in sexual acts with her.

The U.S. Attorney’s Office prosecuted the case. The FBI conducted the investigation.