Pine Ridge Man Sentenced to Prison for Raping Injured Teenage Girl

PIERRE, S.D. (AP) — A Pine Ridge man has been sentenced to nearly 3 ½ years in prison for raping a 15-year-old girl on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation after she'd been run over by a vehicle.

Authorities say the girl had been drinking at a party in April 2014 when she was dragged and run over by a vehicle driven by friends. They say Bishop Cottier found her alongside a road, took her home and sexually assaulted her.

He and another man then took the girl to a hospital, where she reported the assault.

Cottier pleaded guilty in April to sexual abuse of a minor in a plea deal with prosecutors. The U.S. attorney's office says he was recently sentenced to 41 months in prison, to be followed by five years of supervised release.

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