In a widely expected move, late yesterday the Montana Attorney General's office appealed an outrageously lenient 31-day sentence imposed on a Billings teacher who admitted to sexual relations with a 14-year-old student.
In a brief filed late Friday as part of its appeal of the sentence District Judge G. Todd Baugh imposed on Stacey Rambold, the state argues that Rambold should have been sentenced "to at least the mandatory minimum prison sentence of 4 years."
The case achieved national and international notoriety last summer when news outlets picked up on Baugh's statements that the 14-year-old rape victim bore some of the responsibility for the assault.
Assistant Attorney General Tammy Plubell says in the brief that the state "disagrees with any suggestion, no matter where it might have originated, that 14-year-old C.M. was in any way culpable for her own sexual victimization."
Court documents refer to the victim only by her initials because she was a minor, but she was identified as Cherise Moralez after she committed suicide in 2010.
The state argues in the brief that Baugh imposed an illegal sentence on Rambold. Although the state's "indeterminate sentencing structure is usually founded upon judicial discretion," the brief says, the Montana Legislature has decided that "in certain circumstances, the court must impose a legislatively-determined mandatory minimum sentence."
"The circumstance of a 47-year-old teacher having sexual intercourse with his 14-year-old student is precisely such a circumstance warranting a mandatory minimum sentence," the brief continues.
Read the full brief
here.
For those who haven't been following this case, here's a review. Back in April 2008, officials at Billings Senior High School learned that Rambold had been carrying on an affair with Cherise for the better part of a year. Rambold was placed on administrative leave, and resigned in July rather than face all-but-certain termination. He was indicted in October. Open-and-shut, right? Well, the case was thrown into a tailspin when Cherise committed suicide in 2010. It's not clear why, but the brief offers one possible clue. The case was continued three times after being originally slated to go to trial in March 2009. Cherise committed suicide on February 6, exactly two months before it was finally due to go to trial. Whatever the case, prosecutors felt they couldn't make their case without Cherise's testimony. However, they cut a deal that seems almost laughable to a layman's eyes--if he completed a treatment program and complied with other conditions, the charges would be thrown out in three years. Besides the fact that on principle, rape is something that calls for prison time, Rambold has a history of inappropriate behavior with kids going back as far as 2004.
To no one's surprise, Rambold couldn't live up to the agreement. He was kicked out of the program in November 2012 in part for having contact with minor nieces and nephews. While other adults were present, Rambold had to get permission from his handlers in the program to have any contact with minors, supervised or not. Realizing that prosecutors pretty much had him trapped, Rambold pleaded guilty to one count of sexual intercourse with a minor without consent.
Prosecutors were initially seeking a sentence of 20 years in prison, with 10 years suspended. However, in the face of all this evidence, Baugh only imposed a sentence of 15 years in prison, with all but 31 days suspended. He was released on probation in March.
This case initially made national headlines when Baugh initially claimed that Cherise was as much in control of the situation as Rambold, and that she was acting much older than her age. He later apologized, admitting his comments were idiotic. Back in September, Baugh tried to vacate his own sentence, saying that he didn't know at the time that the charge called for a minimum of two years. However, the Supreme Court rebuffed him, saying he didn't have that authority. There's still a complaint before the state Judicial Standards Commission seeking his removal from the bench.
There's a lot of fail to go around here. Hopefully after almost six years, Cherise will get some measure of justice.