Jury Convicts Nome Man of 28 counts of Sexual Abuse of 9 Children Occurring Over 4 Decades

August 27, 2026

(Nome, AK) -On Aug. 26, 2026, a jury found Isaac Ozenna, Sr., 78, guilty of 8 counts of Sexual Abuse of a Minor in the First Degree and 20 counts of Sexual Abuse of a Minor in the Second Degree after a two-and-a-half-week trial. The jury acquitted Ozenna on three counts of Sexual Abuse of a minor in the First Degree and three counts of Sexual Abuse of a Minor in the Second Degree. The convictions relate to the sexual abuse of nine different children occurring in Nome between 1984 and 2014. The jury heard from 15 witnesses throughout the course of the trial and deliberated for 13 and a half hours before reaching their verdict.

In April of 2020, one of the victims, who was 14 years old at the time, came forward to report Ozenna had abused her six to eight years prior. During the course of a several-year-long investigation involving coordination between the Nome Police Department, the Wasilla Police Department, the Ketchikan Police Department, and the Alaska State Troopers, an additional eight victims were identified and interviewed. These victims disclosed that Ozenna had also sexually abused them when they were children.

During the course of the trial, the jury heard testimony from all nine of the victims. The victims testified they did not initially disclose their abuse because they were so young at the time of the abuse and they feared that if they disclosed the incident they would lose their families, and were afraid they would not be believed. The jury also heard from police officers from the Nome Police Department, the Ketchikan Police Department, and the Alaska State Troopers.

After returning their verdicts, the jury returned on Aug. 27 to determine whether any statutory aggravating factors applied. The jury found several aggravating factors applied: that all nine victims were vulnerable victims; that four of the victims were considered by law to be members of Ozenna's household at the time of the offenses; and that he was more than 10 years older than each of the victims.

Superior Court David Roghair of Utquiagvik presided over the trial. After the verdict on Aug. 26, Ozenna was remanded pursuant to statute and is being held without bail pending sentencing. Sentencing is scheduled to occur on Jan. 29, 2027, at 1:30 p.m. Ozenna faces a minimum composite sentence of just over 47 years and 6 months to serve.

Assistant Attorney General Bailey Woolfstead of the Office of Special Prosecutions' Rural Prosecutions Unit prosecuted the case with the assistance of Paralegal Lu Iyatunguk of the Nome District Attorney's Office. The Nome Police Department investigated the case with significant assistance from the Ketchikan Police Department, the Wasilla Police Department, and the Alaska State Troopers.

CONTACT: Assistant Attorney General Bailey Woolfstead at (907) 465-3924 or [email protected]

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Department Media Contact: Information Officer Sam Curtis at [email protected] or (907) 269-6269.

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