Strommen Behind Bars in Roosevelt County

Ex-Valley County Undersheriff Luke Strommen has been behind bars since the evening of Oct. 22. According to Valley County Sheriff Tom Boyer, Strommen was ordered into custody by Judge Jon Larson following an emergency hearing about Strommen’s conditions of release. Boyer stated that Strommen was being held at the Roosevelt County Detention Center in Wolf Point, Mont.

According to Boyer, concerns from community members raised to the judge suggested Strommen was not adhering to his conditions of release. In the emergency hearing held last week, the judge decided to revoke Strommen’s conditions while the matter is referred for an investigation to determine the validity. In the meantime Strommen will remain in custody in Roosevelt County until the judge orders otherwise said Boyer. A hearing will be held once the investigation is complete and Strommen may be allowed to return home while he awaits his upcoming sentencing in March.

Commenting on why Strommen was sent to Roosevelt County rather than Valley County detention Boyer gave two justifications. The first was that Strommen had been the Undersheriff with Valley County while many of the current deputies and guards had worked under him. As such Boyer wanted to avoid a conflict of interest or the possibility of Strommen manipulating the guards that had once worked for him.

The second reasoning was that the Roosevelt Detention Center was better equipped to keep Strommen isolated from the general population. In other words, Boyer said he was mindful of Strommen’s safety from those familiar with who he is as a former deputy and undersheriff but also in regards to the allegations against him in Valley County.

A hearing date had not been set as of press time.

Currently, Strommen is awaiting both a sentencing hearing in early January following his plea of guilty to the charge of sexual abuse of a child. That case involved his receipt of photo of a 17-year-old girl in a “partial state of undress.” According to charging documents, Strommen was in a consensual sexual affair with the girl at the time he received the photograph, over five years ago. Under state law, the age of consent in Montana is 16 years old. A deal struck with the state offered Strommen a 10-year-suspended sentence in return for a guilty plea, meaning Strommen could face no jail time for the conviction but will still have to register as a sex offender.

Strommen was also on pre-trial release pending a March trial date to face the charge of sexual intercourse without consent. That charge alleges Strommen raped a 14-year-old girl in reoccurring encounters over 50 times more than nine years ago. The charges allege he did so while he was in uniform and in his patrol vehicle. If found guilty of that allegation, Strommen faces up to life in prison.

Strommen had been placed on conditions for release back in January following a hearing in front of Missoula-based Judge Jon Larson. Those conditions stipulated that he can not be in a public place where children are present without the accompaniment of his wife or another adult. He was allowed to drop off and pick up his kids from school as long as he did so 15 minutes before and after children were present. He was also allowed to retain internet access so long as his device was subject to inspection by law enforcement.