Former Police Officer Sentenced in Mille Lacs County Court for Sexual Assault of Child

Russell James Bankey (Credit: Mille Lacs County Sheriff’s Office)

A former law enforcement officer was sentenced in Mille Lacs County Court today to at least 19 years in prison for sexually assaulting a child.

Court documents state on Sept. 15, a judge sentenced 75-year-old Russell Bankey to 344 months. Bankey’s sentencing is to serve two-thirds of his sentence in prison at the Minnesota Correctional Facility in St. Cloud and one-third on supervised release.

Earlier this year, Bankey was convicted on one felony count of first-degree criminal sexual conduct with a minor. The conviction came after a woman told authorities Bankey sexually assaulted her for several years starting around the age of seven or eight in approximately 2009.

According to his LinkedIn profile, Bankey served as the chief law enforcement officer for the Mille Lacs Band of Ojibwe from 1987 to 1996. He also worked as a deputy sheriff for Mille Lacs County starting in 2016.

Bankey is also charged in a separate case with one count of second-degree criminal sexual conduct with a victim under the age of 13. His latest hearing on that case also took place today.