Ex-Mont. Teacher Freed After 30-Day Term for Rape

[inch4progress]

Source: ABC

Rambold went before Baugh in August after he violated a deferred-prosecution agreement by getting booted out of a sex-offender treatment program.

Baugh appeared to show sympathy for the defendant and agreed with Lansing's recommendation that Rambold receive a 15-year sentence with all but one month suspended. Prosecutors had sought a 20-year term with 10 years suspended.

Baugh also made comments pinning some of the responsibility in the case on Moralez, whom the judge described as "older than her chronological age."

A formal complaint to have Baugh removed from the bench for alleged bias is pending before the state Judicial Standards Commission.

Read more: http://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory/mont-teacher-freed-30-day-term-rape-20392556

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ABSOLUTELY REVOLTING MISCARRIAGE OF JUSTICE.

Implying that a young girl was "older than her chronological age" following her trauma induced suicide is absolutely REPREHENSIBLE!

I'm sorry, suicide is not the right word. Rambold murdered this poor girl!

[daybranch]

1. i was going to make a joke to

illustrate what type of a low life both of these men are. I cannot joke about such a tragedy for the young girl. I hope we can focus more attention on this and prevent it from happening again.

[muriel_volestrangler]

2. I hadn't realised until now that the girl had committed suicide

I had thought this was about a judge who had some reason to think the victim wasn't badly affected by the underage sex (eg she had given evidence saying that). Instead, I now see that there is obvious evidence that it hurt her as much as imaginable, by driving her to suicide. I cannot understand how the judge sleeps at night.

[inch4progress]

3. Egyptian cotton, Ambien, Glass of expensive wine............................

He could just be a chauvinist, in which case he actually believes what he did was ethical.

[mopinko]

5. or a rapist.

[BlueToTheBone]

4. Is is a possiblity to charge him with the death

of the young girl?

[Jim Lane]

6. You think the 30 days was too lenient?

He was originally given a sentence that was completely suspended provided he complied with the terms of a sex-offender program. He got careless and didn't comply. If he had done what he needed to (I think he should've left a family gathering when nieces and nephews showed up, or some such), he would've done zero jail time.

I'm all for exploring alternatives to incarceration, but like so many good ideas, it can be taken too far.

[inch4progress]

7. Hmmm, I'd see him tried for manslaughter or contributing to the death somehow.

I'm all for exploring alternatives to incarceration, but like so many good ideas, it can be taken too far.

Oh definitely, but as far as I know, in this case, no alternatives exists that I view as viable.

[LAGC]

8. She committed suicide because she didn't want to testify against him at trial.

I'm not saying the guy shouldn't have been punished or anything, but its pretty clear the system is at fault here too, trying to force a young victim to testify against her will.

There's been a lot of misinformation about this case, fomented by sensationalist media trying to make a mountain out of a molehill.

http://billingsgazette.com/news/local/crime-and-courts/former-senior-high-teacher-gets-days-for-rape-of-student/article_b1f84190-ef23-5868-8799-b779c0421dc1.html

He didn't get a 30-day sentence for rape -- he had already been sentenced for that before -- but rather he got 30 days for violating his probation by having unsupervised contact with minors in his own family and having consensual sexual relations with an adult woman without informing his treatment provider.

But "30 days for rape" makes for better headlines and sells more newspapers, doesn't it?

I don't know what's more sickening -- the guy's actions with the teenage girl, or this witchhunt against the judge in the case.

[Sheldon Cooper]

9. "Witchhunt against the judge"?

"Witchhunt against the judge"??? Did you really write that? Unbelievable.

Stacey Rambold, 54, was released from Montana State Prison this week and returned to Billings after fulfilling the term handed down by District Judge G. Todd Baugh, who sparked outrage when he commented that victim Cherice Moralez was "older than her chronological age."

At the Aug. 26 sentencing hearing, Baugh appeared to pin some of the blame in the case on Moralez. In addition to the remark about the girl's age, Baugh said she was "probably as much in control of the situation as was the defendant."

This judge deserves nothing less than to be thrown off the bench. And you think that calling him out for his ignorant and unconscionable remarks is a "witchhunt"? That says more than you probably realize.

[LAGC]

11. It was an unfortunate choice of words...

But you don't know all the facts of the case, what led him to say that.

This clearly wasn't a case of forcible rape, it was statutory rape at best, the girl clearly encouraged the relationship, and didn't want to be part of sending him to prison, hence the reason she committed suicide.

It's a sad case all the way around, but it doesn't help when the media are screaming he "only got 30 days for rape."

He got 30 days for violating his probation. He was already sentenced for the original crime.

[Sheldon Cooper]

12. Sorry, still puking.

And my my, there sure is a lot of apologizing for "unfortunate choice of words". http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2013/08/28/teacher-rape-montana/2722817/


No 14 year old girl "encourages" a sexual relationship with a 54 year old man. That's some old guy's fantasy, but that's really NOT what's going on. And any normal, responsible 54 year old man would know this. Only a sexual predator would take part in something like this. Disgusting.

[LAGC]

15. See post #14. (n/t)

[Jim Lane]

17. You're ignoring the point of my post at the top of this subthread.

You keep saying, "He got 30 days for violating his probation. He was already sentenced for the original crime." That conveys the false impression that he already did time for the rape.

He didn't.

The original deal was that he would do no time if he completed the terms of the agreement. If he had kept to that agreement, he would have done no time. Once he violated the agreement, he was no longer entitled to its benefits. The judge could and should have sentenced him to much longer time for the rape, for which he had not "paid his debt to society" in the old cliche. It wasn't a mere parole violation.

As for not having the victim's testimony, you're overlooking that he already entered a guilty plea (see this article). The victim's suicide was no barrier to giving him at least the two-year statutory minimum sentence, or the longer term sought by the prosecution.

[inch4progress]

13. Witchhunt? She didn't want to testify? Of course not, she was a confused victim!

She was 14, he was a teacher. He manipulated her, used his position of power and RAPED HER. This is pretty much universally accepted and understood and isn't at all contrary to what we know about the psychological state of children going through puberty. SHE WAS RAPED, CASE CLOSED.

It's sick, he wouldn't have even had any jail time at all. If Rambold had any decency or humanity in him he would have followed the directives of the court to the letter.

I don't know what's more sickening -- the guy's actions with the teenage girl, or this witchhunt against the judge in the case.

As someone who went through the same thing I'm just at a complete loss right now. I'm trying to be understanding and I assume you weren't the victim of childhood sexual assault. The most sickening thing about this case IS THAT A TEACHER IN HIS LATE 40'S USED HIS POSITION OF POWER AND AUTHORITY IN ORDER TO MANIPULATE A CHILD!

[LAGC]

14. I don't disagree, Rambold's actions were totally wrong.

Not just the wide age difference between him and the girl, but the fact that he was an authority figure, so he really should have known better.

But what sentence do you think would have been appropriate in this case? Without the girl's testimony, the prosecutors likely wouldn't have gotten a conviction at all.

At least this way, even though he did very little jail time, at least he's on the sex offender registry for life, so he'll never teach again.

I just think people are focusing too much on the judge's poor choice of words and not on the circumstances of the case, that only the court is fully privy to.

It just seems like people want the judge disbarred for not handing down a much stricter sentence, even though the Montana Supreme Court stepped in when he tried.

[inch4progress]

16. " But what sentence do you think would have been appropriate in this case?"

I'm extremely biased, and know it. I'd love to see the guy whipped, and beat with a baseball bat like I was. This disgusts my intellectual and humanist half. This half of me wants to see him in intensive psychological therapy with an ankle monitor for the rest of his life. Maybe throw in some kind of service that benefits rape victims......Um cleaning counseling centers 3 nights a week for the rest of his life? Landscaping the girls grave, using his money to buy the tools and supplies that are necessary? Giving lectures, about what exactly was going through his mind at the time the rape occurred, all over the country to psychology students? Obviously he owes this girls family a lot as well.

Honestly, I hope I never have to decide the punishment for a crime like this.

[Doctor_J]

10. hmmm. Montana being sort of a wild west outpost, would it surprise

anyone if this dude turned up in the bottom of a mine shaft a month from now?