United States Attorney Marty J. Jackley announced that an Eagle Butte woman charged with felony abuse and neglect of a child was sentenced on April 29, 2008, by US District Court Chief Judge Karen E. Schreier. Wendy Veit, age 35, was sentenced to five years incarceration, three years supervised release, $4,421.73 in restitution and $100 to the Victims’ Assistance Fund. Veit was indicted by a federal grand jury in July 2007. Felony child abuse or neglect became a federal major crime with the enactment of the Adam Walsh Child Protection and Safety Act of 2006. Among other things, the Act expands the ability of federal prosecutors working in Indian Country to intervene and protect the safety of children. On January 11, 2008, Veit pled guilty to abusing a child placed in her custody from February 1, 2007, to June 14, 2007. The charge relates to the abuse of a two-and-one-half year old foster child in Eagle Butte. The child was in the Defendant’s custody for approximately four months, and during that time she lost seven of her twenty-eight pounds in weight. The child also contracted a serious skin infection on her face and arms and lost her nasal septum (the cartilage that separates her two nostrils) as a result of the Defendant packing her nose with tissue to stop it from running, thus cutting off the blood supply to the septum. When she was removed from the Defendant’s home by the Department of Social Services, the child was anemic, emaciated, and her face was covered with bleeding sores that she had picked open. The child also had ligature marks on her wrists from the Defendant’s restraint of the child’s arms at night with a bathrobe belt in an attempt to prevent the child from scratching her infected skin rash. US Attorney Marty J. Jackley stated “the physical and emotional distress this child was forced to endure shocks the conscience. The US Attorney’s Office remains committed to hold those who harm the most vulnerable members of our community accountable for their actions.” This case was investigated by the FBI and the Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe Detective Division and was prosecuted by Assistant US Attorney Mikal Hanson.