College basketball coach fired over sex assault allegation

GREAT FALLS, Mont. (AP) — An assistant basketball coach at Stone Child College on the Rocky Boy's Indian Reservation has been fired after being charged with sexually assaulting a girl, starting when she was 12 years old.

Tribal college administrators announced the dismissal of Christopher Brown of Box Elder on Wednesday.

Brown, 31, appeared in federal court in Great Falls on Tuesday on charges of sexual abuse of a minor. He did not enter a plea. He remains in custody and his case will be presented to a grand jury for an indictment, prosecutors said.

His public defender, Rachel Julagay, did not return an email from The Associated Press on Thursday seeking comment.

Prosecutors allege Brown sexually assaulted the girl on six occasions between July 2018 and November 2019. Authorities learned about the assaults on Jan. 21 when they found Brown's vehicle parked at the reservation rodeo grounds with its lights off. When a Rocky Boy's police officer turned into the road grounds, the headlights came on and Brown tried to drive away, court records said.

After stopping the vehicle, the officer observed the back windows were fogged over and there was a young girl reclined in the passenger seat, court records said.