Big Lake man arrested on seven sexual assault counts in Wasilla case

A 62-year-old Big Lake man faces seven sexual assault counts after his arrest Thursday, more than a year after the Wasilla case that led to the charges was first reported.

A grand jury indicted Timothy Abell on July 30 on three counts of second-degree sexual assault and four counts of third-degree sexual assault, according to an Alaska Department of Public Safety dispatch. Troopers arrested Abell on Aug. 6 on a warrant, with help from the Special Crimes Investigative Unit, and took him to the Mat-Su Pretrial facility.

The case began May 31, 2025, when the Alaska Bureau of Investigation received a report of a historic sexual assault in Wasilla. Investigators established probable cause identifying Abell, the dispatch said. Fourteen months passed between that report and the indictment.

Survivors and victim advocacy services in the Mat-Su Borough point to the barriers that keep people from reporting sexual assault, the need for accessible support and the difficulty of moving cases forward after a delayed disclosure. Whether historic reports get investigated, whether survivors trust law enforcement and whether support services remain available through reporting and prosecution all shape how those cases end.

The charges against Abell are accusations, not findings of guilt. "Any charges reported in these press releases are merely accusations and the defendants are presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty," troopers state in their daily dispatch releases.

The dispatch does not list a court date for Abell.