White Earth man sentenced to over 17 years in prison for sexual abuse of minor

A White Earth man was sentenced as of Wednesday to over 17 years (205 months) in prison for sexually abusing a minor in 2018.

According to court documents, between April and October in 2018, Evan James Oppegard, 33, knowingly engaged in sexual acts with a minor within the exterior boundaries of the White Earth Indian Reservation. He also admitted to sending sexually explicit communications to, and soliciting sexual acts with, the minor via Facebook.

In addition to Oppegard’s prison sentence, he will also have 10 years of supervised release.

This case is the result of an investigation conducted by the White Earth Police Department, the Mahnomen County Sheriff’s Office and the FBI.