Wellpinit child molester receives 22 years in federal prison

A federal judge sentenced a 41-year-old Wellpinit man to 22 1/2 years in prison for molesting a child under the age of 12.

U.S. District Court Judge Fremming Nielsen sentenced David Afterbuffalo, 41, to 270 months in prison. Afterbuffalo pleaded guilty to one count of abusive sexual contact with a child.

He previously pleaded guilty in 1999 to sexual intercourse without consent in Montana for which he was sentenced to 20 years. After his release, Afterbuffalo was convicted in 2013 of failing to register as a sex offender and was sentenced to a year in jail.

In addition to his new sentence, Afterbuffalo will be subject to a lifetime of court supervision and he must forever register as a sex offender, according to a news release.