A 72-year-old resident of Tahlequah, Oklahoma, has been handed a 17-year sentence for committing child sex abuse crimes. Phillip Dale Wilson will serve concurrently on two counts of Abusive Sexual Contact in Indian Country, relating to crimes that took place over a span of 16 years, according to the United States Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Oklahoma.
The investigation, carried out by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Cherokee County Sheriff’s Office, exposed Wilson’s abusive actions against multiple children. Wilson pleaded guilty on December 18, 2023, to the crimes taking place predominantly in Cherokee County, inside the boundaries of the Cherokee Nation Reservation. In a statement obtained by the U.S. Attorney’s Office, the FBI's Oklahoma City Special Agent in Charge Doug Goodwater stated, "This case demonstrates the commitment of the FBI to investigate anyone who would harm the most vulnerable members of the community, our children." Goodwater also stressed the agency's continued determination to pursue child sex offenders.
The series of abuses by Wilson began in December 1999 and continued until November 2005 against one victim, and from April 2004 through March 2011 against a second victim, both known to be under 12 years of age. Further investigation also uncovered Wilson's abuse of three other children under the age of 12 between September 2001 and December 2015, and another child under the age of 16.
United States Attorney Christopher J. Wilson spoke on the outcomes of enduring multi-agency cooperation. “Due in large part to the bravery of the victims and the exceptional investigative work of the Cherokee County Sheriff’s Office and the FBI, the defendant will likely spend the rest of his life behind bars,” he said. Acknowledging that no sentence could reverse the harm done, he expressed hope that the victims may find some peace knowing Wilson no longer poses a threat. Chief District Judge Raúl M. Arias-Marxuach presided over the hearing and determined Wilson's non-paroleable sentence of incarceration. Wilson will remain in U.S. Marshal custody pending transfer to a designated federal prison facility, as per the U.S. Attorney's Office.
The Assistant U.S. Attorney Nicole Paladino represented the United States throughout the proceedings, seeing to it that justice was duly served for the egregious crimes committed by Wilson against children over many years.
