A few years ago, one of the biggest travesties of justice in recent history took place in Billings, Montana. District court judge G. Todd Baugh “sentenced” a former teacher to only 31 days in prison for carrying on an affair with one of his students, then claimed the student was at least partly responsible for the ordeal. Following a firestorm of criticism, he was all but forced to retire from the bench—a retirement that started early after the state supreme court suspended him for a month.
Well, another travesty may be playing out in real time on the other side of Montana. Specifically, Mineral County, west of Missoula, right on the Idaho border. Last weekend, 39-year-old Curt Brockway was at the Mineral County Fair when he saw a 13-year-old boy not take his hat off for the anthem. So he hauled off and bodyslammed him.
Witnesses tell MTN News that Curt Brockway grabbed, picked up and slammed the boy on the ground because he did not remove his hat during the national anthem.
The parents tell us the child was bleeding from his ear for nearly six hours after the incident.
Watch more coverage from KPAX-TV in Missoula here.
The boy’s mom, Megan Keeler had just dropped him off at the fair when she got a horrifying call—Brockway had grabbed her son by the neck and slammed him down.
A family friend told the Missoulian that she saw the aftermath—and it was ugly.
Taylor Hennick was at the Mineral County Fair and Rodeo on Saturday, and told the Missoulian she had just stopped at the entrance to the fairgrounds in Superior to pause for the national anthem when she heard a "pop."
"There was a little boy lying on the ground," she said. "He was bleeding out of his ears, seizing on the ground, just not coherent." She said she recognized the boy as a family member's neighbor.
The boy is really lucky to be alive. He suffered temporal skull fractures, and was airlifted to Spokane for treatment. He’s back home now, but doesn’t remember much about the fair. He also has a hard time sleeping. Given the extent of his injuries, as well as how badly he was bleeding, it sounds like he was really lucky to be alive.
Brockway was arrested and charged with felonious assault. He claimed that he asked the kid to take his hat off for the anthem, only to have the teen cuss him out. In his telling, he flew into a rage and slammed the kid down. Even if you buy that story, this was uncalled for.
Now here’s where this gets hideous. When Brockway made his first appearance on Monday, prosecutors sought a $100,000 bond. But Brockway and his lawyer somehow convinced a judge to let him out of jail on his own recognizance, pending formal arraignment on August 14.
Never mind that this kid very likely suffered permanent brain damage, and probably came within a whisker of paralysis or death. I’d really like to know where Brockway shops, because I doubt you can buy cojones that big anywhere near that area—even if you have to drive to Missoula or Spokane.
It’s even less comprehensible given Brockway’s history of violence. KPAX has more details.
Brockway was arrested in 2010 for pulling a gun on a family of three. In 2012, he was sentenced to 10 years’ probation, but was discharged this past February after serving seven years.
You would think that given that history, he would have been slapped with a cash bond, or at least a bond high enough to keep him off the streets. Instead, he’s restricted to his parents’ house except to go to work, doctor’s appointments and court appearances, and has to wear an ankle monitor. Sorry, given his history and the grisly and potentially permanent damage he inflicted on that teen, that’s not nearly enough.