Montana Judge To Be Disciplined For Sentencing Rapist To Only 30 Days

A judge is going to be disciplined by a Montana panel for sentencing an ex-teacher to just 30 days in prison for raping a 14-year-old girl and declaring that the girl was partly to blame in her own rape, documents showed Tuesday.

The Montana Judicial Standards Commission has found that District Judge G. Todd Baugh committed judicial misconduct when he imposed the light sentence last August against former Billings high school teacher Stacey Rambold, Reuters reported.

According to papers from the commission, Baugh, 54, undermined public confidence in the judiciary, created an appearance of impropriety and "justified the unlawful sentence by blaming the child victim," the panel said in a complaint filed with the state Supreme Court.

Commission attorney Malin Stearns Johnson, who wrote the document, said the judge's conduct warranted disciplinary action but she did not say in the complaint if she was seeking a reprimand or Baugh's ouster, according to Reuters.

The commission has the option of holding its own hearing and making its own decision under its rules. The case, however, can be turned over to the justices on the state Supreme Court with the commission's recommendation for reprimand.

When his term expires at the end of the year, Baugh said he would not run for re-election. According to commission rules, he has until later this month to respond to the allegations.

"He ignited a firestorm of criticism last year when he ordered Rambold to be incarcerated for just 30 days for the 2007 rape of his student, Cherice Moralez, who killed herself in 2010," Reuters reported.

In remarks that intensified an ensuing outcry from women's groups, Baugh commented during the sentencing hearing that the teenager seemed older than her years and was "probably as much in control of the situation" as her instructor.

After his remarks and the sentence imposed on Rambold, technically 15 years in prison with all but 31 days suspended and credit given for one day served, the judicial panel received hundreds of complaints about Baugh, Johnson said.

"Through his overly lenient and unlawful sentence, inappropriate rationale, and subsequent public comments, Judge Baugh has eroded public confidence in the judiciary and created an appearance of impropriety," Johnson said in the legal filing.

The Montana chapter of the National Organization for Women, which lodged a complaint against Baugh with the judicial panel, will continue its campaign to have the judge removed from the bench, said president Marian Bradley, Reuters reported.

"This is a huge victory," she said of the panel's legal filing. "But we want everyone to know we are still fighting for justice for Cherice and for all victims of sexual assault."

Since 1991, the commission has filed seven formal complaints with the Montana Supreme Court against judges, documents show, Reuters reported.