The Montana Supreme Court overturned on Wednesday a one-month prison sentence given to a former teacher for the rape of a 14-year-old student, a penalty that sparked outrage and drew criticism from women's groups as too lenient, according to the Associated Press.
On Wednesday, the high court ordered the case assigned to a different judge for resentencing as it ruled the original sentence of 15 years in prison with all but 31 days suspended and credit for one day served was too lenient, according to the AP. The court noted that state law requires at least a four-year sentence for a defendant guilty of raping a victim under age 16, and no more than two years of that can be suspended.
Montana district Judge G. Todd Baugh drew fierce public criticism last year when he sentenced the teacher, Stacey Rambold, to just a month in prison for the 2007 sexual assault of his student, Cherice Moralez, who later killed herself, the AP reported.
"The district court lacked authority to suspend all but 31 days of Rambold's sentence, and its judgment is therefore reversed," Justice Michael Wheat said in the opinion, joined by five other justices, the AP reported.
Rambold was charged in 2008 with three counts of sexual intercourse without consent, stemming from an assault of Moralez in his home, but the teen killed herself in 2010 before the case could go to trial, crippling a prosecution that hinged on her testimony, according to the AP.
Baugh fueled the public outrage by saying during Rambold's sentencing hearing that the teenager seemed older than her years and was "probably as much in control of the situation" as the Billings high school teacher, the AP reported.
In a plea deal that year, Rambold admitted to a single count of sexual intercourse without consent, and prosecutors agreed to postpone the case and dismiss it if he completed sex offender treatment, according to the AP. The case was reinstated after Rambold was dismissed from a treatment program for violating its rules, and prosecutors sought a 20-year prison term with half of it suspended.
The Montana Judicial Standards Commission had recommended the state Supreme Court discipline Judge Baugh, who became the target of a campaign to unseat him, the AP reported. The high court's opinion said that decision would come later.
