Sexual Abuse & Domestic Violence

To help tackle the high rates of violence in Alaska Native villages, a bill in Congress would expand tribal court jurisdiction for up to 30 Alaska tribes.

Tribes in the pilot program would be able to try and sentence anyone who commits domestic violence, rape or related crimes in their villages, even if the offender is non-Native.

“Perpetrators are really smart. They know where they can get away with abuse,” said Michelle Demmert, law and policy director at the Alaska Native Women’s Resource Center. “And they’ve taken advantage of villages forever. This is an issue from first contact, where they’ve known that they can do things with impunity … . This is our chance to say, ‘No more.’”

Sen. Lisa Murkowski added the Alaska pilot program to a bill that would renew the Violence Against Women Act.

The last time the Violence Against Women Act was renewed, in 2013, it allowed Lower 48 tribes the power to prosecute all cases of domestic violence on their reservations, regardless of the defendant’s race or tribal membership. Murkowski said she remembers the the passionate arguments against the idea.

“There was a great deal of concern that this was going to change administration of justice, (that) they were not going to be courts that were serious,” Murkowski recalled. “It was a matter that was very hotly contested and debated.”

Now, more than two dozen tribes exercise those powers, with grants and technical assistance from the Justice Department. The predictions of terrible injustice have not come to pass, Murkowski said. The change the bill would make in Alaska is limited, she said.

“We’re not creating Indian Country through this,” she said. “It is just a recognition, that in order to provide for a level of safety in our communities, we had to look to some alternatives.”

Demmert said the bill also has important technical and administrative assistance to bolster tribal courts.

Defining the boundaries of tribal jurisdiction is a little trickier in Alaska than in other states. Of Alaska’s 229 tribes, only one, Metlakatla, has a reservation. Tribes throughout the state have courts that decide child protection and adoption cases, bootlegging and interpersonal violence. But their power over non-members is limited. And some argue it’s non-existent.

The House and Senate versions of the Violence Against Women Act reauthorization bill would change that for participating tribes. The Senate bill relies on census tracts to define the territory of jurisdiction, and it leaves it up to the U.S. Justice Department to decide whether a tribe meets all the criteria to be eligible.

Alaska Congressman Don Young is responsible for adding a similar Alaska pilot program to a similar Violence Against Women Act renewal bill. It passed the House last year.

“Alaska Natives comprise about 19% of the state’s population, yet are 47% of the reported rape survivors,” Young said on the House floor, explaining the need for the program. “Yet Native villages currently lack any efficient tools to criminally prosecute the offenders.”

Murkowski’s decision to champion the issue strikes some as a reversal. A section she contributed to the 2013 bill seemed to purposely exclude Alaska tribes. Murkowski later said she was trying to recognize Metlakatla’s unique status. But many of her constituents were furious.

Demmert, from the Alaska Native Women’s Resource Center, commended Murkowski for listening, and for acting quickly to get the “Alaska exception” repealed.

“She’s been a great partner,” Demmert said, “and she’s really taken on educating herself and surrounding herself with quality staff who understand the situation in rural Alaska.”

The bill has enough Republican support to pass the Senate, and President Joe Biden said he’s looking forward to signing it.

Alaska Gov. Mike Dunleavy did not take a position on the expansion of tribal criminal jurisdiction when asked about it at a news conference last week where he announced his own anti-crime bills. He said his staff is still reviewing the federal bills.

“We’re going to make sure that everybody’s constitutional rights are protected,” he said. “At the same time, we’re determined to work with any and all groups in the state of Alaska — to protect victims, to protect individual Alaskans, regardless of whether in urban Alaska, rural Alaska, Native, non-Native, and tribal, non tribal.”

Actress Angelina Jolie lent her star power to a bill in the U.S. Senate — a renewal of the Violence Against Women Act, which includes a section dedicated to a young Alaskan killed by her boyfriend.

Jolie spoke for five minutes at a news conference at the Capitol, at one point struggling to remain composed.

“I am in awe of the parents who after the murder of their children have fought to change the law to protect the next child,” she said. “Parents like Ana Estevez, mother of Piqui, Kathy Sherlock mother of Kayden, even though that means reliving every day the horror and pain and loss.”

Jolie might have added two Alaskans to that list — Butch and Cindy Moore. They’ve dedicated themselves to violence prevention since their 20-year-old daughter, Breanna, was murdered by her boyfriend in 2014 in Anchorage.

“That was just so impactful, and powerful. And I had tears in my eyes,” Cindy Moore said, after watching the news conference online.

The Moores’ advocacy convinced the Alaska Legislature to pass Bree’s law, which trains teachers to recognize signs of sexual abuse and teaches students about dating violence. Now the U.S. Senate version of the Violence Against Women bill has a Bree’s Law section, to foster education nationally about dating violence. The Moores say they’re grateful to Sen. Lisa Murkowski for adding it to the bill. Cindy Moore said kids need to recognize unhealthy relationships and know that jealousy and possessiveness are not signs of love.

“If we can teach them at the junior high and high school level, then hopefully when they get into their long term relationships as adults, we can curb domestic violence and we can bring those numbers way down,” she said.

Previous efforts to renew the Violence Against Women Act got bogged down in a controversy over guns — whether an abuser should be denied access to guns even if the victim and perpetrator were just dating. Federal law already bars domestic abusers from having guns if they assault their spouse, ex-spouse, live-in partner or the other parent of their child. It also bars felons from possessing guns.

Facing fierce opposition from gun-rights groups and several Republican senators, the bill’s sponsors did not attempt to close the so-called boyfriend loophole.

Moore said she would like to see the loophole closed, though it was not applicable in Bree’s case. Her boyfriend did not have a prior conviction for domestic violence when he shot their daughter. But he was a felon and not allowed to possess guns.

It’s not clear when the Senate will vote on the Violence Against Women Act renewal bill.

A state employee for the Office of Children’s Services in Bethel has been charged with sexual assault. Several local non-profit organizations that he is a board member of are evaluating whether to remove him.

On Dec. 16, the state of Alaska charged 51-year-old Bethel resident Jon Cochrane with sexual assault in the first degree, attempted sexual assault in the first degree, three counts of sexual assault in the second degree, and assault in the fourth degree.

If convicted, Cochrane faces up to 99 years in prison. His bail has been set at $50,000.

Charging documents state that a woman told a police officer that Cochrane assaulted her and tried to have sex with her without her consent. She said that she was able to fight him off, but sustained bruises from his blows.

A woman filed a restraining order against Cochrane a few days later. She wrote that he had assaulted her on multiple occasions over a period of months. KYUK reached out to the woman, who did not want to be named in this story. Cochrane’s attorney did not reply to a request for comment before this story was published.

Since February 2021, Cochrane has worked as a protective services specialist for the state’s Office of Children’s Services. State spokesperson Clinton Bennett said that Cochrane has been on administrative leave without pay since Dec. 15.

Before working for the state, Cochrane worked as a branch manager for Wells Fargo Bank in Bethel for over 12 years, according to his LinkedIn profile.

Cochrane sits on the board of directors for the Bethel Family Clinic, and presides over the Bethel Winter House’s board. Executive directors for both non-profit organizations said that they were aware of the charges against Cochrane. Bethel Winter House is scheduling an emergency board meeting this week to consider whether to remove Cochrane from his position.

Cochrane held a license as an emergency foster parent in Bethel. However, a state spokesperson stated that he has not cared for any foster children since 2019 and has not held a license to do so since it expired in 2020. The state spokesperson said that there were no enforcement actions or investigations against Cochrane while he held the license.

On Tuesday, Gov. Mike Dunleavy announced a series of steps intended to reduce Alaska’s rates of domestic violence and sexual assault.

During a press briefing announcing his “People First” initiative, Dunleavy said the rates of these crimes remain high despite previous efforts to reduce them. He said he’s hopeful that this time will be different and that his administration should be judged on the outcomes.

“I think we’ve run out of reasons or excuses, to be honest with you,” he said. “And I’m not diminishing initiatives done in the past. I think there were some real attempts and genuine attempts to work on this.”

Dunleavy plans to introduce a bill that would increase criminal penalties related to domestic violence and sexual assaults, and to expand the range of offenses defined as domestic violence. He plans to launch new programs to assist victims of these crimes.

“The bill equips the Department of Law with additional resources and support needed to better protect victims and to bring perpetrators to justice,” said Attorney General Treg Taylor.

Dunleavy also plans to launch a new Missing and Murdered Indigenous Persons Council. And he’s asked for legislation to better define sex trafficking and to allow sex trafficking victims to expunge their records.

The administration will focus more state efforts on reducing the number of children receiving foster care and on aiding the transition of foster children to getting jobs.

The initiative also includes the creation of a statewide homelessness coordinator and a new database that would track homelessness and draw from different sources to better coordinate the state response.

On Wednesday, Dunleavy will announce his state budget proposal for next year. He said the initiatives he announced on Tuesday will cost “millions” of dollars, but that the overall budget would keep state spending below the level it was at when he took office.

A Juneau man who works for the state has been charged with more than a dozen counts of possessing child pornography. 

Juneau police arrested Bradley Waldron on Dec. 3 saying that he downloaded hundreds of images and videos of sexual abuse of children onto his cell phone. 

He faces 14 felony charges and up to 99 years in prison if convicted. After his arrest, he was released on a $5,000 bond. 

Waldron is a procurement officer for the Department of Labor. 

State law specifically allows for a state employee’s name, salary, job classification and history to be disclosed, but Labor Deputy Commissioner Cathy Muñoz said she wasn’t sure if he still worked for her department and said she wouldn’t share the information if she did know. She called it a personnel matter. 

The state’s personnel director said Waldron is currently on paid administrative leave. 

Juneau Assistant District Attorney Dara Gibson said his personal cell phone was the only thing that police searched — not equipment he used while working for the state. 

She cited other instances in which state employees have been accused of crimes but are still employed by the state pending the outcome of their trials. 

The charges against Waldron are allegations and not evidence of guilt. A phone message left for him on Friday was not returned.

An affordable housing project of Juneau’s domestic and sexual violence shelter got a $350,000 boost last month from the Rasmuson Foundation. AWARE director Mandy Cole says that will pay for about a third of the project — seven apartments on Douglas Island.

“Smaller units, so efficiency units, and one-bedroom units are in constant demand and AWARE already operates 12 units of transitional housing,” Cole said.

“Our longest waitlist is always for the efficiency units.”

The structure is already in place — Cole and AWARE now have to build the inside of the units. She says this is part of a strategy called infill, where affordable housing is integrated into neighborhoods.

Cole says she’s seeking additional funding from other sources, too, like Alaska Mental Health Trust and the City and Borough of Juneau.

“We tried to find a way to build this facility with grant funding so … it could support itself and we could operate it at a very low cost to the tenants,” Cole said.

She says she hopes to have funding secured by construction season next year.

If you are experiencing any harm, domestic or sexual violence you can call AWARE’s crisis line at 1-800-478-1090.