The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Oklahoma has announced that James D. Bledsoe, 32, of Muldrow, has entered a guilty plea to three counts of child abuse in Indian Country.
The indictment alleged that between Jan. 1 and Sept. 24, 2024, Bledsoe willfully and maliciously harmed, failed to protect, and tortured three children in his care by restraining them, covering their mouths, and punishing them with cold water and by withholding food.
The crimes occurred in Sequoyah County, within the boundaries of the Cherokee Nation Reservation, in the Eastern District of Oklahoma.
The charges arose from an investigation by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Muldrow Police Department.
The Honorable D. Edward Snow, U.S. Magistrate Judge in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Oklahoma, accepted the plea and ordered the completion of a pre-sentence investigation report.
Bledsoe will remain in the custody of the U.S. Marshals Service pending sentencing.
