Vinita Man Convicted by Federal Jury for Raping a 16-Year-Old

TULSA, Okla. - After a three-day jury trial, a federal jury returned a guilty verdict convicting a Vinita man after he raped a 16-year-old in November 2025.

Garret Lee Monroe, 37, of Vinita and a member of the Northern Arapaho Tribe of Wyoming, was convicted of Aggravated Sexual Abuse by Force in Indian Country.

On November 30, 2025, Vinita Police officers were dispatched to a fight in progress. When officers arrived, they broke up a fight between Monroe and another man. Officers spoke with the man, who stated that he was contacted by the 16-year-old minor victim, who asked him to come home as soon as possible, because something bad had happened. The man explained that the minor victim told him that Monroe had strangled and raped her and threatened to kill her. The man confronted Monroe for raping the minor victim and a fight ensued.

Officers then spoke with the 16-year-old minor victim. She told officers that Monroe woke her up in the middle of the night by covering her mouth and strangling her. When the minor victim testified, she explained to the jury that while Monroe was strangling her, she could not breathe and thought she was going to die. She began screaming and Monroe put a knife to her throat and threatened to kill her. Monroe then proceeded to rape the minor victim. After he was finished, Monroe told the victim he was afraid he was "gonna go to prison" and offered to pay the victim $500 a week not to tell anyone.

When the SANE nurse testified, she went through her detailed reports and explained to the jury what the minor victim stated at the hospital. The nurse took DNA swabs and photographed the 16-year-old's injuries. The photographs were shown to the jury, including photos of bruises and abrasions to her neck and of the petechiae in the victim's eyes and on her face caused by the strangulation.

During the trial, a DNA expert with the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation confirmed that the swabs taken from the minor victim matched the victim and Monroe's DNA.

Court dockets show that Monroe is a prior felon and was previously convicted of serious offenses, including assault and battery on an officer, assault and battery with a deadly weapon, and robbery. When Monroe was sentenced in 2007 for robbery, he was sentenced to 20 years in the Department of Corrections, with 16 years suspended. Monroe did not comply with the terms of his release. His suspended sentence was revoked. The court docket shows that he was released seven months prior to the rape.

The FBI, the Vinita Police Department, the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation, and the Tulsa Police Department investigated the case.

Assistant U.S. Attorneys Stacey Todd and Blithe Cravens prosecuted the case.

This case was prosecuted as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse. Led by U.S. Attorneys' Offices and CEOS, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state, local, and tribal resources to better locate, apprehend, and prosecute individuals who exploit children via the Internet, as well as to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit Justice.gov/PSC.