A former educator from northwest South Dakota has been indicted on federal charges he sexually abused an American Indian girl in the 1990s.

Sixty-one-year-old Gerry (GARY) Heck of Isabel pleaded not guilty to aggravated sexual abuse of a child and sexual contact with a child. According to the indictment, the girl was younger than 12 years old and the alleged abuse happened between 1993 and 1995 near Isabel on the Cheyenne River Indian Reservation.

At the time, Heck worked for Northwest Area Schools Educational Cooperative, which he left in 2007 as director.
He was previously a teacher and administrator at schools in Isabel and Bison. Heck's lawyer declined to comment. Prosecutors can't speak about pending cases.