Former Senior High teacher gets 30 days for rape of (14 yr. old) student

[Divernan]

Source: Billings, Montana Gazette

A Yellowstone County district judge Monday ordered a former Senior High teacher convicted of raping a 14-year-old female student who later committed suicide to spend 30 days in jail.

Judge G. Todd Baugh sentenced Stacey Dean Rambold to 15 years in prison, with all but 31 days suspended, for sexual intercourse without consent. Rambold, 54, will be given credit for one day already served. He was handcuffed and led to jail at the close of the hearing.

Baugh said he was not convinced that the reasons for Rambold's termination from treatment were serious enough to warrant the lengthy prison term suggested by the prosecution. Baugh said he listened to recorded statements given by Morales before her death and believes that while she was a troubled youth, she was "as much in control of the situation" as Rambold.

The judge also said Morales was "older than her chronological age."



Read more: http://billingsgazette.com/news/local/crime-and-courts/former-senior-high-teacher-gets-days-for-rape-of-student/article_b1f84190-ef23-5868-8799-b779c0421dc1.html

---

Montana's legal system has hit an all time low when a 14 year old (who didn't have the opportunity to testify since she committed suicide while this case dragged on for years) is ruled by a judge (who never saw her) to hve been in control of a sexual relationship with a 49 year old teacher, and the convicted rapist gets all but 31 days in jail suspended.

Today, Montana Judge G. Todd Baugh sentenced a teacher, Stacey Dean Rambold, 54, who repeatedly raped a 14 year old female student, who then committed suicide, to 30 days in jail. Judge Baugh blamed the girl, who he said, "was older than her chronological age". Principal Scott Anderson hired Rambold, knowing he was a sex offender, in a Jerry Sandusky like move. He kept him on despite other allegations. Rambold's failure to attend a sex offender treatment program to which he was referred, still "did not warrant a lengthy sentence" according to Judge Baugh. We demand the removal from the bench of Judge G. Todd Baugh and the permanent removal from the education system of Scott Anderson.

http://www.thepetitionsite.com/848/062/410/unseat-judge-g-todd-baugh-fire-principal-scott-anderson/

[MADem]

1. Terrible.

I read that subject line as THIRTY YEARS and I thought "Good!"

Then I realized it was days, not years, and I was horrified.

[kristopher]

24. Here's the phone number - tell him what you think

Judge G. Todd Baugh
Department No. 5
[phone]

http://www.co.yellowstone.mt.gov/clerk_court/district.asp

[Laurian]

2. That judge is as sick and evil as the convicted rapist as

far as I'm concerned. Any backlash in the community?

[bamasher]

4. Judge is Worse than Rapist

He took an oath to uphold the law, not make up the rules as he goes along. Damn his soul to hell.

[Ash_F]

3. She committed suicide...

What is wrong with Montana?

[Alamuti Lotus]

5. the judge and the rapist should live for 30 days in a castrati academy

[wordpix]

6. thank goodness I didn't settle in Montana, these people should all be indicted

Just how is a 14 y.o. older than her chronological age?

[sorefeet]

17. Ihave been in Montana for 30

years, it's like going back 40 years in time. They are way behind in every thing. My landlord, 53 years old, has 1200 acres of farm ground. Arrogant, subsidized, Republican wealthy farmer, just got 10 years in prison, must do all 10 years plus 20 years probation when he gets out at 63. He molested his 9 year old daughter, his step daughter and two of his nieces. Plus I'm sure a civil lawsuit will leave him pretty broke for the rest of his life. If he makes it out of prison.

[Judi Lynn]

27. It must be another world there, sorefeet!

Such a beautiful state, how horrifying it seems to be controlled by monsters.

[Wernothelpless]

30. This is a rare outcome ...

Usually the women protect the abuser, because he is their only source of income and they sacrifice their own children ...

[Ilsa]

7. I'm wishing for some

street justice on both the rapist and the idiot judge.

I bet this man rapes again.

[Wernothelpless]

31. And the girl's mother ...

This girl was sacrificed to men at a very young age and her mother, grandmother, aunts, etc., are equally to blame. This didn't happen by accident. She was defenseless from the very beginning.

[A Little Weird]

32. In what way was it the mother's fault?

Do you have more info about this story than what is posted?

[Wernothelpless]

36. Mother's know ...

When their children are having sex or being abused or molested. When the mothers choose to do NOTHING but
wring their hands and stand back and allow their children to continually be abused it is their FAULT for NOT protecting
their child from predators. Even wild dogs protect their young. It is only within the human family they do NOT.

What do you think her mother was doing for the past decade? Reading to her? Protecting her?

Her mother is more to blame then ANY of the predators.

Anyone who has ever witnessed abused children knows they have nobody to protect them at all. This girl didn't start
having sex at 14 ... she'd been abused for more than a decade ...

"The judge also said Morales was "older than her chronological age." ... The mother needed to blame someone and obviously all these men are criminals, but the child was never protected.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2402937/Cherice-Morales-Teacher-Stacey-Rambold-gets-30-days-jail-raping-student-14-commuted-suicide.html

[sinkingfeeling]

38. Where in the world did you come up with that?

[Wernothelpless]

40. Unfortunately experience ...

Become involved, if you dare take the time, with children who have been neglected and abused ...

The parents are either absent from their lives or ignoring them entirely or most likely had the same kind of childhood and IT'S ALL THEY KNOW OR HAVE EVER KNOWN ...

I have seen (and many more than one) mothers who were NURSES, teachers, and members of law enforcement act completely oblivious as to why their children's lives were destroyed when they KNOW differently ...

Nobody wants to deal with it so they throw their hands up and exclaim, "I don't know why she is so out of control" when time after time after time after time the child is acting out the only way she or he knows to beg for help from the very people who will continue to look the other way ..

It's epidemic in our society ...

How can people continue to bury their heads in the sand when so many suffer?

There's nothing new under the sun ...

[A Little Weird]

39. That is an absolutely absurd, baseless accusation.

The rapist is to blame for the rape.

The judge is to blame for giving a 30-day sentence for rape of a child.

The mother is not to blame. Mothers are not psychic whatever you may believe and bad shit sometimes happens to children despite their parents efforts to protect them. I don't know if she's "mother of the year" material, but there is nothing in the articles posted to imply she knew about the rape until after the fact.

[Wernothelpless]

41. The judge is dead wrong but when he states

"older than her chronological age" but what the judge means is the child had her childhood stolen from her years ago by being exposed to predators from a very young age and he thinks the streets are full of girls like her so why prosecute the men ...

It is a MAN'S world ... for all the talk of women's lib we do NOT protect our own ...

Morales never had anyone to protect her ... Who was supposed to be there? ... Not a psychic ... her mother

[A Little Weird]

43. You say she's been exposed to predators from a very young age

You say she's been exposed to predators from a very young age but you have nothing but speculation to back that up. The judge's statement simply indicates that he is a rape apologist.

I just don't see where the hatred of the girl's mother is coming from.

[Wernothelpless]

44. the judge states more than that ...

And of course he is dead wrong letting the monster go free, but he cites the live interview with the girl ... The live interview, which goes to her background, vocabulary, and lifestyle ... men believe "she was asking for it" simply because it's all she's ever known ... It's learned behavior ... she was groomed long before the teacher picked her out of the crowd ...

All those things about her ... the way she talked, the way she dressed ... these things aren't speculation ..

Children raised around pornography carry themselves, speak, act totally differently than kids who have never been exposed to the lifestyle ... Creeps like this teacher can spot them easily ...

WE don't have less pornography in our lives now ... we have MORE ... it's online and in all these households ... Pornography is child-abuse ...

"You say, you say" ... listen to yourself ... I am simply being honest with you about a situation I have seen dozens of times and you want to play "kill the messenger" ...

When we (and these girls MOTHERS too) as a society get pornography out of the home (and education in) and stop teaching young girls to dress like Vickie's Secret models it may begin to change ... WE as a society are also guilty ... we too set these girls up day after day in the media ...

I don't hate her mother, but it was her mother's responsibility as to what her daughter was exposed to that caused her to behave in such a manner that the judge (who is a sexist bastard) believed her demeanor to be beyond her year's in the expertise of a 14 year old ...

Go to any amusement part ... watch the girls in skintight clothes riding the water-rides this summer so they can run around the park looking nearly nude and dripping wet ... giggling thinking it's a joke ... It's NOT a joke ... It's not funny ... It's dangerous, but they have nobody to teach them that their behavior is drawing the wrong kind of attention to them ... Because often as not their mothers dress the same way ... They are making themselves and their daughters a target ... All I can tell the young children with me as the GAWK in disbelief is that what they see is unacceptable behavior and those poor girls don't even know it's setting them up for a lifetime of pain and abuse ...

You don't like it, you don't agree .. fine ...

Men are visual and you can't change the nature of predatory beasts ... maybe breed them out of the species but you'll never change their nature ...

That poor girl deserved to be nurtured and protected ... she simply wasn't ...

[A Little Weird]

46. I'm not trying to "kill the messenger"

I'm not trying to "kill the messenger", I just don't understand your perspective.

Men are not beasts - they are human beings quite capable of controlling themselves, some just choose not to. The crime was committed by the rapist and he alone is responsible. If the judge commented on how she talked and how she dressed, that's just a form of victim-blaming. A 14 year old cannot consent to sex no matter how she behaves and any adult man (especially a judge!) should know that.

I'm sorry we can't see eye-to-eye. It's obvious that we both agree on the main point - that what happened was a tragedy.

[Dash87]

57. So, men are all rapists that can't control themselves?

Women ought to cover up because men are unthinking beasts that want to rape everything in sight?

How dare some young girl wear clothes she feels comfortable in? She's just inviting men to rape her! Everyone knows that women ought to do everything based on what men want them to do. Otherwise they're just asking for it and it's totally their fault! After all, it's a man's world and that dumb girl should know better than to tempt guys like that - you know - with shorts and a t-shirt - clothes men wear all of the time. Why isn't she in jail? That's the real question!

But back to keeping men's wishes in mind - oh wait, women already do! Make up, clothes, hair - it's all a subtle invition for 40 year old men to run over and rape them. I hear that all of the time on the Internet, so it must be true!

In conclusion, to avoid tempting rapists, women should all wear some kind of clothing item that covers their entire body - I know nothing like this has been invented yet, but it's a killer idea! That way, men would no longer be tempted and be forced to rape.

It's not like guys are smart enough to know or anything! They just bang their heads against the wall for hours until a female walks by, and then you know what happens next!

[fujiyama]

63. Nonsensical and baseless accusation against the mother

You're speaking about a "lifestyle" but what lifestyle is that? All of what you're saying is pure conjecture.

And how is the mother, grandmother, aunts, and whomever else supposed to know what's going on with the kid at all times? Are they psychic? People can't read minds and some kids are troubled and can't or won't speak to their parents for whatever reason (and maybe it's possible this kid was troubled and didn't feel comfortable talking to family about these issues - but there's nothing here indicating that and it's irrelevant here). Either way, that doesn't make her parents "equally to blame" as the rapist. And I don't even know where you're going with your rambling about pornography and skimpy clothes.

The rapist is the one at fault and the judge is abetting and pretty much condoning such behavior. It's repulsive and this is as shocking as something we hear about in other countries like India. It's amazing that even in our country attorneys and judges are still blaming rape victims. Sick.

[lapislzi]

64. Your remarks are bizarre

Unless you have some supporting documentation, this is just warped speculation.

"Women's lib?" People still use that phrase? Not on these boards, we don't.

[noiretextatique]

48. you have no way of knowing that

what a bizarre attempt to blame the mother the rapist was responsible.

[lunasun]

51. bizarre indeed

[chervilant]

52. You are wrong, and

you should do research before you post any more unfounded allegations about child sexual abuse.

[Wernothelpless]

54. And should you ...

I don't choose to ignore the experiences the child brought with her as abuse ... or the judge stating she was beyond her years ... he didn't mean she was an intellectual ... he meant she had years of sexual experience which can only be abuse prior to the incident ..

The teacher should be in prison, but there are others who got to that child first who are also culpable ... She was groomed long before the teacher abused her again and the grooming of young children in our society is indeed abuse ...

[chervilant]

55. Actually,

I was referring to your other unfounded allegations, including your assertion that "her mother, grandmother, aunts, etc., are equally to blame."

I have been an advocate for survivors of relationship violence for more than thirty years. I've advocated with hundreds of survivors. I've earned a higher degree with a focus on relationship violence issues. I've lectured on relationship violence multiple times, at multiple colleges and universities. I can tell you unequivocally that you are wrong.

If you have any interest in learning more about child sexual abuse, and other forms of relationship violence, I encourage you to start building a personal reference library. If you do so, you can focus your time and energy on advocacy for survivors, because relationship violence is the norm, rather than the exception, and children are so very vulnerable.

In closing, I will share with you that I've survived every recognized category of child abuse. Consequently, I bring personal experience to the table when I advocate with survivors.

[lapislzi]

65. What orifice are you pulling these allegations out of? n/t

[Paladin]

66. You're blaming the victim. Piss off. (nt)

[uppityperson]

56. WTF? Some may but not all do. No. The rapist is more to blame than anyone. Good lord

And I thought I'd read it all here.

The mother "needed to blame someone" so blamed the rapists and this is....wrong?

[Make7]

8. Four year minimum sentence...

 
[div class="excerpt" style="margin-left:1em; border:1px solid #bfbfbf; border-radius:0.4615em; box-shadow:-1px -1px 3px #999999 inset;"]45-5-501. Definitions. (1) (a) As used in 45-5-503, the term "without consent" means:
[div style="margin-right:2em;"](i) the victim is compelled to submit by force against the victim or another; or
(ii) subject to subsections (1)(b) and (1)(c), the victim is incapable of consent because the victim is:
(A) mentally defective or incapacitated;
(B) physically helpless;
(C) overcome by deception, coercion, or surprise;
(D) less than 16 years old;[font style="font-size:0.7692em;"]
<-snip->

[/font]45-5-503. Sexual intercourse without consent. (1) A person who knowingly has sexual intercourse without consent with another person commits the offense of sexual intercourse without consent. A person may not be convicted under this section based on the age of the person's spouse, as provided in 45-5-501(1)(a)(ii)(D).
    (2) A person convicted of sexual intercourse without consent shall be punished by life imprisonment or by imprisonment in the state prison for a term of not less than 2 years or more than 100 years and may be fined not more than $50,000, except as provided in 46-18-219, 46-18-222, and subsections (3) and (4) of this section.
    (3) (a) If the victim is less than 16 years old and the offender is 4 or more years older than the victim or if the offender inflicts bodily injury upon anyone in the course of committing sexual intercourse without consent, the offender shall be punished by life imprisonment or by imprisonment in the state prison for a term of not less than 4 years or more than 100 years and may be fined not more than $50,000, except as provided in 46-18-219 and 46-18-222.[font style="font-size:0.7692em;"]


http://leg.mt.gov/bills/mca_toc/45_5_5.htm[/font]

[jimlup]

9. God...

Fire the principal and the Judge. Good lord...

[vaberella]

10. Why can't I separate the racial aspect from this horrendous action?

Just by the judge saying what he said...it was as though he the crime wasn't all that bad cause she was older than "chronological age" whatever the fuck that means. I wonder what would have been done if this was a white female? While women are always given the short end of the stick. Minority women are barely even given a stick.

[XemaSab]

15. For real

If it was a blonde chick, he would have gotten the chair.

[7962]

22. I dont know, his reputation is being easy on rapists from what I heard

I dont think he'll be on the bench long

[kwassa]

11. This is truly a travesty of justice.

[Alameda]

12. JUDGE WHO GAVE PREDATOR TEACHER 30 DAYS IS JAIL IS RUNNING FOR FIFTH TERM ON THE BENCH

Montana District Court Judge G. Todd Baugh announced on Monday that Cherice Morales seemed just as responsible for a sexual relationship with her teacher Stacey Dean Rambold as the teacher was - even though Cherice was troubled and only 14 at the time.

http://www.coloradonewsday.com/national/13616-cherice-morales-teacher-stacey-rambold-gets-30-days-in-jail-for-raping-student-14-who-commuted-suicide.html

[freshwest]

13. Mitigating factors per judge: She wanted and liked it or she'd have killed him = Wrongly convicted.

Essentially, he threw the case out of court. May the Internet get this guy fired via pure outrage.

[MichiganVote]

14. Pathetic

[obama2terms]

16. That's awful

Not only did the school knowingly hire a sex offender, but said offender didn't even go to his treatment program. Also a 14-year-old cannot legally consent, he's a judge and should know that! Not only is that fool of a judge blaming a victim, but he's a blaming a dead victim! And I still can't get over the fact that the school knowingly hired a sex offender! It's a scary thought because one of these creepers can be at any school.

[duffyduff]

60. Prove it the school district "knowingly hired" a sex offender. That's because you can't.

ALL school districts do background checks; indeed, ALL state licensing boards do criminal background checks.

The reason this guy slipped through the cracks and was hired was that he had NO prior history.

Did you read the article? He had NO history of any type of criminal behavior prior to being hired.

[obama2terms]

62. Uh the real question here is did YOU read the article

"Principal Scott Anderson hired Rambold, knowing he was a sex offender, in a Jerry Sandusky like move. He kept him on despite other allegations. Rambold's failure to attend a sex offender treatment program to which he was referred, still "did not warrant a lengthy sentence" according to Judge Baugh."

How did you miss that, because that's a pretty big deal. I just checked huffpo too and found more: "Although Rambold was ordered to complete a sex-offender treatment program to have charges dismissed in 2008 after pleading guilty to rape, he was terminated from the program for missing meetings. The same year Rambold was hired as a business teacher for Senior High School in 2004, principal Scott Anderson met with Rambold to discuss allegations that he touched a girl's thigh and waist. A court affidavit said Anderson told Rambold to "keep his hands off all students" and that anything further would result in a formal investigation, KTVQ reported."
Here's the original 2008 KTVQ article: http://www.ktvq.com/news/ex-billings-teacher-charged-with-rape/#_
So please..... tell me more about how he has no criminal record and that no one at the school knew he had done these things. He had been at the district since 2004 and was gone in 2008. The first allegation was made in 2004, so not only did the principal know, but he knew it when he first met the sick f***er

[rdking647]

18. the judge should be removed from the bench

and if he isnt then he should suffer some street justice.

[Comrade Grumpy]

45. They have a sordid history of vigilantism in Montana. You probably don't want to go there.

[mecherosegarden]

19. OMGOSH!

This is horrible! So sad; so disgusting!

[progressoid]

20. "Principal Scott Anderson hired Rambold, knowing he was a sex offender"

[CoffeeCat]

21. This is classic pedophile thinking...

This isn't just a travesty of justice. This is a judge who is engaging in textbook pedophile thinking--the type of stuff that allows pedophiles to rationalize that raping children is normal, ok and even wanted by the victim.

Pedophiles believe that their victims are in control. That their victims want sex with them. Pedophiles often blame the victim or assign motives to the victim--that have no basis in reality.

It's pretty disgusting that twisted, contorted cognitive dysfunction is being offered up as a foundation for allowing a molester to avoid accountability.

I imagine that this judge sympathizes with pedophiles for his own reasons. Quite possibly, he's a pedophile. There's no difference between this judge's delusions and the delusions of pedophile Catholic priests or members of NAMBLA.

It's disgusting. I'm shocked that he has no shame in publicizing his sick opinions.

[riderinthestorm]

23. [phone]. nt

[noiretextatique]

47. bingo

he has no business on the court.

[CoffeeCat]

50. Well, the problem is...

that molesting children and child-pedophile rings are probably pretty common. Along with greed and corporate corruption comes other kinds of corruption. People who choose money over the well being of people usually don't value life. Many are sociopaths and psychopaths. They are attracted to power and situation in which they dominate--because they're broken people. It's no big surprise that children get exploited and tied in with people like this.

I would imagine that it's more common that most people think. Look at what happened at Penn State. I believe that there are an untold number of "Penn State" situations embroiled in political and corporate circles, as well as other organizations where there is hierarchical power.

[noiretextatique]

59. i agree...there was that other judge who was basically

selling juveniles to a for-profit prison. sadly, you are correct.

[defacto7]

25. Maybe it's time

to take a look at the Judges hard drive!

[Trajan]

26. The calls for 'street justice' ...

Remind me of the Palin rallies where some called out to kill Obama ...

Really ? ... Walking up to someone on the street and killing them ? .... Beating them ? ...

And those that do this - What do they become ? ....

Look ... what has happened here is horrifying .... It is awful beyond measure ...

But morality is universal .. it applies to everybody, or should apply to everybody ....

Anybody that actually caused the death or injury of these idiots would be subject to criminal prosecution ....

They would be criminals with a 'just cause' ... but criminals, nevertheless .... and they most likely WON'T be getting 30 days .....

[JusticeForAll]

34. +1

The call for more violence to solve violence is appalling.

[Doctor_J]

35. Can you see the difference between this judge and Obama?

[Trajan]

42. Of course they are different

Where I don't see a difference is between those at the Palin rallies who called for Obama's assassination and those on this thread who call for 'Street Justice' to be done to the judge or the perpetrator ...

Their inclination toward criminality is equally repulsive ...

[LanternWaste]

58. I see a precise and relevant difference between the...

I see a precise and relevant difference between the isolated visceral reaction that goes no farther than venting predicated on a stunningly heinous act, and the less-than-rare calls for killing a public figure at a public rally predicated by a VP candidate superimposing a shooting target on a picture of Obama.

However, I can readily understand the inability to differentiate the two.

[SunSeeker]

28. I hope that judge is disbarred and I hope the girl's family sue the school for a tidy sum. nt

[Wernothelpless]

29. It's a man's world ...

Any questions? ....

All women and girls should receive self defense training from the age of FIVE years old and be taught that there are men who are addicted to predation ... self-absorbed PREDATORS ... too many women are hunted all their lives with little to no recourse ...

Most men will NEVER know what's it like to live like a creature who is constantly preyed upon ...

This girl must have had a nightmare childhood and I'm thankful the nightmare, at least for her, is over ... She was stalked and abused her entire life ...

I've never wished ill upon anyone, but I hope this judge experiences this kind of predation within his own family and is utterly helpless to stop it ... only when he witnesses it first hand will he know the unending nightmare that poor girl lived ...

How many women and children over the centuries never said a single word and took this nightmare to their graves? ... Every time something like this happens another woman goes silent ...

[Divernan]

33. You are absolutely right.

[sinkingfeeling]

37. What is it with males who cannot understand what consitutes rape?

The victim is not at fault!!

[Xithras]

67. There's long been a disconnect in opinion regarding statutory vs. forcible rape.

Part of that stems from the idiotic ways in which the laws themselves are written and enforced. One commonly mentioned example here in California is this:

If a 30 year old man and a 16 year old girl rent a room at the Embassy Suites in South Lake Tahoe and have sex, he is a rapist and she is a victim. Why? Because the law in California says that the age of consent is 18, and that a 16 year old is incapable of offering consent. That makes the sex rape, and him a felony rapist who will spend years in prison and spend a lifetime as a registered sex offender.

However, if the same 30 year old man and same 16 year old girl rent a room at Harrah's 100 yards away and have sex, no crime or rape has occurred. Why not? Because they're in Nevada, where the age of consent is 16, and where 16 year old girls do have the capacity to offer consent to sex to anyone they choose.

Basically, according to the law, 16 year old girls ability to consent to sex is determined not by her age or mental development, but by a line painted down the middle of a roadway.


This kind of legal double standard has unfortunately led a lot of creeps to believe that "statutory rape is not real rape". They view it as more of a moral issue than a legal one, and don't consider the girls to be victims at all, but people who are simply "off limits" due to a legislative decision. I've met many men (more than I care to admit) who hold this perspective. This judge is obviously one of them.

[NickB79]

49. Link to the Change.org petition site as well

PLEASE sign this.

http://www.change.org/petitions/federal-government-remove-judge-g-todd-baugh-from-the-bench

[gopiscrap]

53. that judge is a mysognist piece of shit!

[Ilsa]

61. Still refusing to resign. There will be a formal

protest shortly, from what I've heard.