Nome jury convicts Isaac Ozenna, Sr., 78, on 28 counts of child sexual abuse

A Nome jury convicted Isaac Ozenna Sr., 78, on 28 counts of sexual abuse of a minor Wednesday. The charges covered nine children abused in Nome between 1984 and 2014. He faces a minimum composite sentence of at least 47 years and six months.

The jury found Ozenna guilty on eight first-degree counts and 20 second-degree counts, the Alaska Department of Law said. Jurors acquitted him on three first-degree counts and three second-degree counts. The trial lasted two and a half weeks. Jurors heard 15 witnesses and deliberated 13 and a half hours.

The case began with one report. In April 2020, a victim then 14 told police Ozenna had abused her six to eight years earlier. What followed, the department said, was "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." Investigators identified and interviewed eight more victims.

All nine testified. The department said 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 returned Thursday to decide whether aggravating factors applied, findings that raise the sentencing range. It found all nine victims were vulnerable, that four were legally considered members of Ozenna's household at the time of the offenses, and that Ozenna was more than 10 years older than each victim.

Utqiagvik Superior Court Judge David Roghair presided. Ozenna was remanded after the verdict and is being held without bail. Sentencing is scheduled for 1:30 p.m. Jan. 29, 2027.

Assistant Attorney General Bailey Woolfstead of the Office of Special Prosecutions' Rural Prosecutions Unit prosecuted the case, assisted by Paralegal Lu Iyatunguk of the Nome District Attorney's Office. The Nome Police Department led the investigation. Woolfstead, Iyatunguk and Roghair have worked together before in the same rural prosecution network, including a 2025 sentencing of Austin and Brandon Swan of Kivalina for sexual assault.

The Nome Nugget reported in May 2022 that Ozenna had been charged with 31 counts of child sex abuse, describing allegations involving multiple victims across several decades. The jury this week considered 34 counts. The release does not explain how the charging history changed between 2022 and trial; the court docket would show when counts were added, amended or dismissed.

The department's announcement includes no comment from the attorney general, the prosecutor, police or the defense. The fuller record sits in the Alaska Court System case file, which holds the charging document, verdict forms, aggravator findings and, in January, the judgment. Ozenna's attorney can contest the aggravators at sentencing, and an appeal period follows.