ALEXANDRIA, La. (KPEL News) - A former soldier once stationed at Fort Polk in Louisiana has been sentenced to 20 years in prison for sexually abusing a minor under the age of 12.

Gjamale Demonte Kaver, 37, enlisted in the United States Army and was stationed at the Fort Polk Military Reservation in the late 2000s. While stationed there in 2007, and continuing upon his return to Fort Polk in 2009, Kaver "engaged in abusive sexual misconduct with the minor victim who was under the age of 12."

In March of last year, he was indicted for the crime by a grand jury in Lafayette. He eventually pled guilty to it on August 18, 2022. He has been sentenced to 240 months (20 years) in prison, followed by a lifetime of supervised release.

“The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Western District of Louisiana has jurisdiction over federal crimes that occur at Fort Polk Military Reservation,” said U.S. Attorney Brandon B. Brown in a press release from the Department of Justice. “Abusive sexual conduct with children is an intolerable crime and we will continue to prosecute those who commit these crimes to the fullest extent that the law will allow.”

According to the DOJ, the case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Daniel J. McCoy and J. Luke Walker.

History of Offenses?

This appears to not be the only case of Kaver sexually abusing children.

In July of 2020, Kaver was being sought by police in Wilmington, North Carolina, for "indecent liberties with a child." He was eventually convicted for that crime, the DOJ confirmed Friday.

But before he lived in Wilmington, he was a resident of Lansing, Michigan, according to a GoFundMe account.

Turns out, Nancy followed through and started giving this man a ride. Gjamale Kaver is a 29 year old, 8 year US Army veteran and is employed with one of GMs local suppliers. Nancy informs me that he is humble,thankful and dedicated to his job. (We could see that!)  Gjamale lives 8 miles from his workplace. That’s 16 miles of walking daily. 16 miles in Michigan weather! On Sunday, February 1st through Monday February 2nd, we experienced a blizzard in Lansing.  Gjamale Kaver walked through the storm to work, then was sent home due to a change in plant production, then called back in to work the afternoon shift for 4 hours, then told to report for day shift the following day. He did it! He’s committed! Just like his commitment to serve our country.

The GoFundMe aimed to raise $10,000 for Kaver, but in an update from March 2015, it noted that he had purchased a Chevrolet Impala.

Somewhere between then and 2020, he ended up in North Carolina with a Ford Fusion instead, but still with a Michigan license plate.

"Project Safe Childhood"

The Department of Justice says Kaver's case is part of "Project Safe Childhood," which is a "U.S. Department of Justice nationwide initiative to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse."

Led by U.S. Attorneys’ Offices and the Criminal Division’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section, Project Safe Childhood combines federal, state and local resources to better locate, apprehend and prosecute individuals who exploit children via the internet, as well as to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.projectsafechildhood.gov.

Project Safe Childhood was launched in May of 2006, and is the DOJ's premiere initiative to combat child exploitation. According to its website, the number of cases and defendants prosecuted by United States Attorney's Offices has increased by 40 percent, with 2315 indictments against 2427 defendants filed in Fiscal Year 2009. PSC prosecutions by United States Attorneys' Offices have increased each year since the launch of the initiative.

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