Rocky Boy youth at center of federal lawsuit

HELENA — A federal appeals court ruled Wednesday that juveniles whose identities otherwise would be protected can be required to publicly register as sex offenders.

An incident at Rocky Boy's Indian Reservation prompted the federal lawsuit.

The 9th U. S. Circuit of Appeals denied the argument by three males in Montana — including a boy who was 14 at the time of the offense — who said lower-court judges should not have sentenced them to register as offenders for sex crimes committed when they were children.

The Rocky Boy resident is now 17.

The defendants, in a consolidated appeal of t...