By: E&P Staff Last November, Arizona Republic reporter Dennis Wagner reported that a serial rapist or rapists had committed as many as 15 sexual assaults won the Fort Apache Reservation in eastern Arizona while posing as police officers. Wagner revealed how a botched investigation by the federal Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) and the White Mountain Apache Tribal Police Department ended with no one convicted of the crimes.
Though the rapist or rapists were never caught -- and Wagner's story documented the agency's failure to properly oversee the investigation or hold agents accountable for its failure -- BIA investigators received bonuses of $1,800 for their work on the case.
Tuesday, the Republic disclosed it is not through with the story.
The newspaper said it has filed suit in federal court to force the BIA to release records of the investigation, which the agency has indicated is now closed.
Wagner has been seeking the records since June of 2008, the newspaper said, repeatedly invoking the federal Freedom of Information Act (FOIA). The paper said the BIA has refused to turn the records over claiming they contain "extensive privacy information about the victims, suspects, law-enforcement officers, witnesses and sources" involved in the investigation.
"We have been incredibly patient with the BIA in our efforts to obtain records that clearly fall within the open-records law," Republic Editor Randy Lovely said in the article Tuesday by Michael Kiefer. "The residents on the reservation deserve a clear accounting of how this serious case was handled, and we will continue to push the government on their behalf. The Obama administration has pledged greater transparency of government actions, and we hope they will stick to that pledge and release the documents we are seeking."
The suit was filed March 23, the paper said.
Comments
No comments on this item Please log in to comment by clicking here