Three members of Blackfeet Nation sue IHS over sexual abuse

Three members of the Blackfeet Nation have filed a civil lawsuit against the Indian Health Service and are seeking $9 million in damages, alleging the organization violated their treaty rights by failing to prevent a former IHS doctor from sexually abusing them.

The lawsuit refers to Stanley Patrick Weber, who has been convicted of sexually assaulting boys while working for the IHS on reservations in Montana and South Dakota.

Montana and South Dakota reports the lawsuit was filed Wednesday in Federal Claims Court by three men who are in their 30s and who allege they were abused in the early 1990s.

Weber was convicted of abusing one of the plaintiffs. The IHS declined to comment.