RAMAH, N.M. – A 74-year-old man from Ramah, New Mexico, is facing charges of Abusive Sexual Contact of a seven-year-old during a church service in Ramah. Tony Jake, Jr., is being charged with the crime by the Gallup Resident Agency of the FBI Albuquerque Field Office; the charge is an allegation, all people are innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.
According to the criminal complaint, on May 28 Jake attended a church service at Yahweh Church in Ramah. While at the church service, Jake allegedly engaged in sexual contact with a seven-year-old child. This offense occurred on the Ramah Navajo Reservation. Jake is an enrolled member of the Navajo Nation; the minor victim was an enrolled member of the Navajo Nation.
The FBI investigated this case with assistance from the Ramah Navajo Police Department. Special Assistant United States Attorney Chelsea N. Van Deventer is prosecuting the case. This charge is part of the US Department of Justice’s Project Safe Childhood, a program which has already seen the successful prosecution of at least one Cibola County resident for sexual abuse of a child. The program was designed with childhood safety in mind, it is a nationwide program that focuses specifically on the abuse and explotation of minor children. For more information about the project, please visit www.Justice.gov/psc