14 DAY TRIAL // Montana Judge G. Todd Baugh has publicly apologized for comments which appear to support statutory rape.
As we mentioned, Baugh made headlines by sentencing a teacher convicted of raping a 14-year-old student to just 30 days in jail. Stacey Rambold will be on probation for the rest of his 15-year sentence.
Student Cherice Morales killed herself less than two years after starting the affair with the teacher.
The Billings Gazette relays a statement by the judge, throughout which he apologizes for his choice of words during the trial.
“I'm not sure just what I was attempting to say but it did not come out correct. [...] What I said is demeaning of all women, not what I believe and irrelevant to the sentencing. My apologies to all my fellow citizens,” he says.
Judge Baugh had claimed the girl was older “than her chronological age” and a willing participant in the affair.
She was “as much in control of the situation” as the teacher, he phrased it.
“I guess somehow it makes a rape more acceptable if you blame the victim, even if she was only 14,” the girl's mother, Auliea Hanlon, said after the sentencing phase.
However, the judge insists that a harsher sentence is not necessary in this case. Rambold was reported by different students for touching her inappropriately 9 years ago.
Billings School District Superintendent Terry Bouck has stated that he is not in agreement with the sentence. The district has also been sued by the girl's parents and settled out of court.
“While I respect our court system, I disagree with the sentence, and I believe Mr. Rambold deserves to spend more time in jail than 30 days,” Bouck argues.
Meanwhile, a protest has been planned in the Billings, Montana community. Demonstrators are asking for Baugh’s resignation by rallying in front of the Yellowstone County Courthouse.