Wow. Just wow.
Thanks to Montana District Judge G. Todd Baugh, Stacey Dean Rambold just got a slap on the wrist for raping a 14-year-old girl — who took her own life because of the trauma.
As you might suspect, nowhere in the United States — including Montana — is it permissible to have forcible sex without consent with a 14-year-old.
But somehow, Judge Baugh used exemplary — if not totally twisted logic — to excuse the actions of Rambold, 54, and said he could go free after serving just 31 days in jail.
The Rapid City Journal has the story:
Rambold, now 54, was charged in October 2008 with three counts of sexual intercourse without consent alleging that he had an ongoing sexual relationship with Cherice Morales, starting the previous year when she was 14.
Morales took her own life in February 2010 while the case was pending.
So apparently, in Montana anyway, it’s okay to have sex with a 14-year-old girl, as long as long as the girl appears to be asking for it. Or, as the judge said, she was “as much in control of the situation” as Rambold and was “older than her chronological age.”
I’m sorry, but how can anyone who isn’t a psychologist or medical professional determine what a person’s “real age” is versus their chronological age. And when has it ever been an excuse to forgive a criminal’s action in a sexual assault as serious as rape between an older man — who should know better — and a teenager?
The case was revived last December when prosecutors learned Rambold had been terminated from the sex offender treatment program.
Treatment provider Michael Sullivan said Rambold started missing meetings in August 2012, but Sullivan said he met with Rambold and he appeared to be back on track with his treatment.
Rambold was terminated from the program in November when it was learned that he had been having unsupervised visits with minors, who were family members, and did not inform counselors that he had been having sexual relations with a woman.
Defense attorney Jay Lansing said Rambold has since continued his treatment with a different program and an evaluation found him at low risk to re-offend.
Yellowstone County Attorney Scott Twito is apparently a coward, in my opinion, and has no apparent balls to appeal the case, as he told the Associated Press on Tuesday: “We respect the court’s sentencing decision.”
Sometimes I mistakenly believe we live in an enlightened society, where a man would be held accountable for raping a young teen.
Today, I was show how wrong I am by an apparently — in my opinion — misogynistic judge, who appears to be living in the dark ages where a 14-year-old can give consent to a 50+ something-year-old man.
The citizens of Montana should be ashamed that Judge Baugh and Yellowstone Country Attorney Scott Twito represent them and their interests.
The girl’s mother repeatedly screamed, “You people suck!” […]
We couldn’t agree more.
13 comments
Another example of why I will continue to rail about how antisocial and pure sociopathic behaviors are epidemic in our culture, and how pathetic and destructive it is for mental health care to be forced to take on these people as “patients” simply for the courts to pass the buck onto a system with little choice these days.
Theses are truly dangerous times people. Art imitates life, maybe the movie “The Devil’s Advocate”, especially the last ten or so minutes, needs to be watched.
Or, how the protagonist in “Batman Begins” is on the mark saying how criminality thrives through the indulgence of society. Think about it!
Stories like this from around the world
Never ceases to disgust and anger me. The brains of the people who make these erroneous decisions should be dissected and observed under a microscope in order to discover Just what the hell was wrong with them that they would make such a horrendous decision in supporting the predator and punishing the victim through such actions.
This judge needs to go to jail.He has no idea what this has done to the family of the girl.Shame on u Montana for letting this happen!This open’s the door to all rapist thinking they’ll get a slap on the hand foe such a crime.
I understand your disgust and I agree with it whole-heartedly but please don’t blame the entirety of Montana. There are plenty of Montanans who are equally horrified by the acts of both Judge Baugh and Stacey Rambold.
Rape Statuates, state by state show that most of them have some fairly pathetic minimum sentencing standards when the act of sexual imposition is likely to change the victim’s life forever. There are also countless stories of similar stupidity by the courts.
http://www.arte-sana.com/articles/rape_statutes.pdf
What can be done about this country
and the way things are falling apart?
There are so many highly educated
people here and we have politicians
acting terribly and judges too….
What do you think can ”re-educate’
this American society on truths and
honor and justice?
Arman
I agree with the judge’s decision.
He has the FACTS of the case, you don’t.
You are following the word RAPE! like baaing sheep.
So let me tell you what I , a sexual abuse survivor, read into this story.
The girl was not raped.
The sex was consensual. And don’t tell me 14 year old girls cannot have consensual sex because they do, every day in every town in the world. I did. The idea that a girl wakes up 18 or 21 and is an adult is silly. My grandmothers were married by 14. In some southern states, it’s been in recent history that girls over the age of 14 had to have adult consent to marry. A girl can go to court and become emancipated before 17 so SOMEBODY thinks SOME girls are adult enough to take care of themselves.
When I read between the lines, what I”m seeing here is a SEVENTEEN year old girl who killed herself, probably because the man she loved was going to go to jail for 20 years and she was the cause. Her mother is looking for a scapegoat because it’s probably HER fault for pushing the case.
No place does the court story say this girl was RAPED.
That is a word that gets people frothing at the mouth.
The girl never said she was RAPED.
In FACT she told the police the sex was consensual.
Cases like this annoy the heck out of me because I WAS sexually abused and I KNOW what girls are capable of. Sexually abused girls tend to be VERY sexual and promiscuous. They use sex to control men and unless they get counseling, that behavior is as recognizable as a giant tattoo on their forehead. A normal man short of being a saint doesn’t have a chance in a room with one of these girls. They will touch you, sit in your lap and grind you, kiss you neck, get up close, show their cleavage and butt, tease until you break. It’s like having a new toy when you realize the power you have over men.
I guess the bottom line is that people who do not hear the full case and don’t have all the FACTS shouldn’t be throwing stones. The judge got it right, in my opinion, after hearing everything.
Well, the FACTS of the case are that Stacey Rambold pleaded guilty to rape as a part of his deal. That means in the eyes of the law, he committed rape.
As for the judge’s inappropriate comments about women, he also apologized for them today:
“What I said is demeaning of all women, not what I believe and irrelevant to the sentencing,” Judge Baugh said in the letter to the Gazette. “My apologies to all my fellow citizens.”
A 14 year old might tell the police lots of things, hoping that the whole thing will just go away quickly. That’s why the law doesn’t recognize a 14-year-old’s independence or responsibility and says they are a minor — not an adult. Only adults can enter into contracts.
I encourage readers to sign the MoveOn petition:
http://petitions.moveon.org/sign/resign-judge-g-todd-baugh?source=s.icn.tw&r_by=8646657
I am hearing what you have to say.
But….since she killed herself and
since she was 14…there are a few
reasons why 30 days is not correct.
I base this on a variety of things
but the man needs to be counseled
and thrown into prison for at least
3 years…then monitored…if it is
determined he is looking for young
girls or even younger girls…
And he needs to do some kind of
humanitarian work for at least
10 years to atone for her death….
i am thinking thats a better sentence.
30 days is ridiculous….
An additional significant fact in this case is that the perpetrator was a teacher in the high school where the 14-year-old was a student. She was a vulnerable child, and he was in a position of power and public trust.
People,
Seems to me the girl killed herself because her community shamed her for having sexual feelings and actions. Repression of these normal human transactions due to moral code denies basic human rights to be who we are.
Please stop shaming. Pillory pushers!
Amazing how so many non-violent drug offenders get years in jail while many rapists get a slap on the wrist.
I think our justice system is failing to reflect our ethics as a nation.
I just heard this. I cannot believe what the world is coming to. They mentioned on our local station that there was a petition for this Judge to step down. If anyone knows where I could possibly sign that petition, I would appreciate it.
Antisocials must be smiling ear to ear knowing there are apologists and defenders who echo what Ra’s al Ghul said to Bruce Wayne in his training from “Batman Begins”:
“Criminals thrive on the indulgence of society’s understanding.” When you rationalize, minimize, or just plain deny the frank evil of the behaviors as above in the post, you only aid and abet evil.
Read “The Sociopath Next Door”, not a light read, but a necessary one with the depth of deplorable behaviors going on these days!
Oh, and how do some of you advise how to deal with the Syria situation? No big deal as long as Not In My Back Yard, eh?! When it is YOUR 14 year old, doubt the compassion and understanding is so easy and quick to type!