Former Stilwell Teacher Sentenced To Thirty-Five Years For Aggravated Sexual Abuse Of A Child

MUSKOGEE, OKLAHOMA - The United States Attorney's Office for the Eastern District of Oklahoma announced that Lawrence Fourkiller, age forty-eight, of Stilwell, Oklahoma, was sentenced to 420 months imprisonment, followed by a life-time term of supervised release, for one count of Aggravated Sexual Abuse of a Child in Indian Country.

The charge arose from an investigation by the Stilwell Police Department and the Federal Bureau of Investigation. The FBI investigation was opened following the submission of an online tip from a concerned third party.

Fourkiller pleaded guilty to the charge on April 11, 2024. According to investigators, between August 2020 and May 2021, Fourkiller, while employed as a teacher at Stilwell Elementary School, sexually abused a student under the age of twelve. During the investigation, the FBI set up a designated tip-line which led to the discovery of twelve additional victims. The crime occurred in Adair County, within the boundaries of the Cherokee Nation Reservation, in the Eastern District of Oklahoma.

"As a teacher, the defendant violated the trust of his position and preyed upon innocent children," said FBI Oklahoma City Special Agent in Charge Doug Goodwater. "Today's sentencing holds him accountable for his crimes and he will not be able to harm another child. The FBI and our law enforcement partners remain committed to protecting the most vulnerable members of our community."

"The defendant used his position as a teacher to prey upon and attempt to silence his victims," said United States Attorney Christopher J. Wilson. "Fortunately, one disclosure led to others, and the defendant's despicable acts were exposed. It is the mission of the United States Attorney's Office to hold offenders accountable and to pursue justice for victims, and I commend the work of our law enforcement partners and prosecutors in fulfilling that mission on this case."

The Honorable John C. Coughenour, Senior U.S. District Judge in the United States District Court for the Western District of Washington, sitting by assignment, presided over the hearing in Muskogee, Oklahoma. Fourkiller will remain in the custody of the U.S. Marshal pending transportation to a designated United States Bureau of Prisons facility to serve a non-paroleable sentence of incarceration.

Assistant United States Attorneys Caila M. Cleary and Morgan Muzljakovich represented the United States.