Stacey Rambold, Former Teacher Who Raped Suicidal Student, Gets 30 Days Jail

[dianalyn]

A former Montana high school teacher convicted of raping a 14-year-old female student who later committed suicide will face only 30 days of jail time.

Stacey Dean Rambold, 54, had at least three sexual encounters with student Cherice Morales in 2008. In 2010, the student committed suicide a few weeks before her 17th birthday, The Billings Gazette reported.

Yellowstone County Judge G. Todd Baugh sentenced Rambold to 15 years prison, with all but only 31 days suspended for sexual intercourse without consent. The judge then gave Rambold credit for one day served, bringing the offender's total jail time to just 30 days.

Auliea Hanlon, mother to the victim, testified that her daughter's relationship with Rambold was a large factor in the teen's suicide. As the sentence was delivered, Hanlon began to scream "You people suck!" before leaving the courtroom.

The judge said victim Morales was "as much in control of the situation" as Rambold, according to Time.com.

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. Judge Baugh said the ex-teacher's termination from the program did not warrant a lengthy imprisonment.

Judge Baugh also said victim Morales was "older than her chronological age."

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.

Rambold will have to register as a sex offender.




http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/0...m_hp_ref=crime

[Angiebla]

That judge sounds like a piece of shit. Just sayin.

WTF is older than her chronological age supposed to mean?

[dianalyn]

That judge sounds like a piece of shit. Just sayin.

And he is up for re-election. I do not know how he can say that a 14 year old kid was as responsible as her 54 year old TEACHER! She was obviously having problems, she committed suicide, he saw a vulnerable kid and he took advantage of it. They were talking about it on Dr Drew and are saying he has a history of this. Looking for more now.
I think this is her facebook, it is private except for a couple of pics

http://www.facebook.com/auliea.hanlon?fref=ts

[Trahnse]

The judge said victim Morales was "as much in control of the situation" as Rambold, according to Time.com.


Judge Baugh also said victim Morales was "older than her chronological age."

Are you fucking kidding me?? It doesn't work that way... she was underage and that should have been the end of discussion. What a piece of shit judge... Was he friends with the rapist or something? WTF!

[dianalyn]

And he is up for re-election. I do not know how he can say that a 14 year old kid was as responsible as her 54 year old TEACHER! She was obviously having problems, she committed suicide, he saw a vulnerable kid and he took advantage of it. They were talking about it on Dr Drew and are saying he has a history of this. Looking for more now.
I think this is her facebook, it is private except for a couple of pics

http://www.facebook.com/auliea.hanlon?fref=ts

That is the wrong girl, so sorry, not sure why they kept flashing her name on Dr.Drew
Here is more info on him, he got kicked out of sex offender treatment because he kept having unsupervised visits with minors.

eacher who admitted raping student, 14, who later committed suicide gets just 30 days in jail after judge rules girl was 'older than her years' and 'in control of the situation'

Cherice Morales was a troubled 14-year-old high school freshman when teacher Stacey Dean Rambold, then 49, groomed her for sex
Cherice killed herself while the case was pending and her mother says the sex abuse by the teacher was 'a major factor' in her suicide
Rambold entered a sex offender treatment program, but was kicked out after having unsupervised visits with minors
Judge Todd Baugh disagreed with the prosecution of Rambold and handed out a 30 day sentence
Prosecutors had asked for 10 years
Judge, 66, announced he is running for re-election and is so far unopposed


A Montana teacher who admitted to raping a troubled 14-year-old student who later committed suicide has been given just 30 days in jail after a judge ruled that the girl was more mature than her age and 'just as in control' of the relationship as the teacher.

Cherice Morales' furious mother stormed out of the courtroom Monday after Judge Todd Baugh handed down the sentence, which was less than 1percent of the 10 years prosecutors had demanded.

Attorneys for Stacey Dean Rambold, 54, said the teacher has lost his job, his license, his house and his wife and suffered the 'scarlet letter of the Internet' as a result of the allegations. Defense lawyer Jay Lansing said his client had been punished enough for his crime.

Judge Baugh, 66, - who said he disagreed with the decision to prosecute Rambold after he was kicked out of sex offender treatment program - announced last week that he is running for re-election and is thus far unopposed.

The Billings Gazette reports that Rambold was arrested in 2008 after police and administrators at Billings Senior High School learned that he had targeted 14-year-old Cherice, a troubled freshman at the school, and groomed her for sex.

The school district had warned Rambold four years earlier to avoid touching or being alone with female students, it was later revealed. The district paid Cherice's mother $96,000 as part of a wrongful death settlement.

The teacher, who was then 49, was charged with three counts of sexual intercourse without consent and prosecutors allege he had an ongoing sexual relationship with the girl.

ust before her 17th birthday and while the case on still pending, Cherice killed herself.

The girl's mother, Auliea Hanlon, says that Rambold's sexual abuse was a 'major factor' in her daughter's suicide.

The Gazette reports that with the girl's death, prosecutors were forced to defer prosecution. They agreed to dismiss the case if Rambold admitted to one count of rape and agreed to enter a three-stage sex offender treatment program.

n December, prosecutors revived the case and re-filed charges after they learned that the teacher had been kicked out of the program for having unsupervised visits with minors.

Rambold's defense lawyer said those minors were his family members.The attorney said Rambold was attending another treatment program and was considered a low risk to re-offend.

Judge Baugh seemed to agree. He said that the former teacher's violations at the sex offender treatment program were not enough to warrant prosecution.

He also said that when he reviewed taped police interviews with Cherice and concluded that even though she was 35 years younger than Rambold and clearly troubled, she was 'as much in control of the situation' as the teacher, the Gazette reported.

Judge Baugh also said that Cherice was 'older than her chronological age' - which mitigated Rambold's crimes.

Ms Hanlon, Cherice's mother, stormed out of the courtroom when the judge handed down the ruling and shouted 'You people suck!' at the judge.
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.

He also pronounced that the girl, who killed herself two years later, appeared to be 'older than her chronological age.'

Baugh, 66, is running for a fifth term overseeing cases in Montana's 13th Judicial District. He has been on the bench since 1986.

He announced on August 21 that he is running for re-election. So far, he is running unopposed.

He recently told KULR-TV: 'When I was younger I thought, "By golly, by the time I get to be 66, I'll be way old and ready to retire," but then I discovered when I got here that I?m not.'

If re-elected in 2014, he would serve another six-year term.

He ran unopposed in 2008 and 2002, state elections records show.

He is the son of NFL Hall of Fame quarterback 'Slingin'' Sammy Baugh.

Baugh did not return a call from MailOnline seeking comment on the case.

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/arti...#ixzz2dE2TWYqn
Follow us: @MailOnline on Twitter | DailyMail on Facebook

[blighted star]

That judge sounds like a piece of shit. Just sayin.

WTF is older than her chronological age supposed to mean?

This is like the British case a few weeks ago. I posted it somewhere?? The judge & prosecutor made outrageous excuses for the creep in that case too. I'll find the link.


ETA - found it. They called this 13 yr old girl "a predator". Teenage girls really seem to be under attack at the moment. Doesn't matter what happens - it's all their own fault.

http://mydeathspace.com/vb/showthrea...tion-Barrister

Mr Colover has been suspended from prosecuting sex trials after he told Snaresbrook Crown Court in London that the girl "forced" herself on Wilson, describing her as "predatory in all her actions" and "sexually experienced". He said: "She appeared to look around 14 or 15 and had the mental age of a 14 or 15-year-old. There was sexual activity but it was not of Mr Wilson's doing. You might say it was forced upon him despite his being older and stronger than her." Judge Nigel Peters, QC, is also being investigated for telling Wilson the girl was "egging you on" and that she looked and behaved "a little bit older" than her age as he gave him a suspended sentence.

Wilson admitted two counts of making extreme pornographic images and one count of sexual activity with a child. His own solicitor told Monday's sentencing hearing that the paedophile could still pose a risk to children.

[zeebee]

This is absolutely disgusting. That judge needs a punch in the face.

[hamdinger125]

Does it seriously matter if they look or act older?! I mean, if they're 14, they're 14. The law doesn't say you go by how old they act; you go by how old they ARE.

[missbad]

When I hear of these light sentences and the judges comments in cases like these, I always wonder if the judge is thinking "only by the grace of god". Ya know? Like the judge is almost making excuse for these purps because they can relate.
I wonder this also with some drunk driving cases as well

[beli]

That is some bullshit. I wonder if he had daughters if he would have treated this way if this were to happen to them. "Look at that 14 year old. Look at her walk into class and try to get her edumacation. She was just asking for it. Its her fault. Look at how she is writing when answering questions on her exam. Dirty slut!"

[sarabei]

This a disgusting abuse of power on the part of the judge for letting that pedo go and the pedo in being a teacher who was supposed to TEACH not abuse people's children.

[dream]

That Judge needs to get the boot--older than her chronological age-WTF!
She was fourteen, I don't care if she was active with a boyfriend (making this up-I am not saying that she was active in any way), she legally cannot consent.
And how does a 54 yo get bamboozled by a 14 yo---by submitting to their lust--He did the wrong thing and should have been sentenced for longer and the judge sucks balls for disparaging that poor girl that way. Motherfucking misogonist.

[dream]

This is the judge, there is a petition going around for his resignation.

[dream]

argh-didnt work, but there is a petititon going for his resignation. He defended his comments:

On Tuesday, Baugh defended his remarks to the Billings Gazette.

“Obviously, a 14-year-old can’t consent. I think that people have in mind that this was some violent, forcible, horrible rape,” Baugh told the newspaper. “It was horrible enough as it is just given her age, but it wasn’t this forcible beat-up rape.”

on huffington post-so gross

[beli]

http://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory/m...-rape-20087517



A Montana judge apologized Wednesday for saying a 14-year-old rape victim was "older than her chronological age" and had as much control of the situation as the teacher who raped her — remarks that prompted protests and a petition for his resignation.

District Judge G. Todd Baugh made the comments Monday while sentencing former Billings Senior High School teacher Stacey Rambold to a 15-year prison sentence then suspending all but 31 days and giving him credit for one day already served.

Yellowstone County officials previously agreed to defer Rambold's prosecution for three years and dismiss the charges if he completed a sexual offender treatment program. The case was revived in December after prosecutors learned Rambold, 54, was kicked out of the program for having unsupervised visits with minors who were family members and not telling counselors he was having a sexual relationship with a woman.

Defense attorney Jay Lansing said Rambold has continued his treatment with a different program and an evaluation found him at low risk to re-offend.

The judge said he wasn't convinced that the reasons for Rambold's exit from the program were serious enough to warrant the 10-year prison term recommended by prosecutors.

Faced with backlash over his comments and the sentence that protesters considered too light, Baugh wrote an apology in a brief letter to the editor to The Billings Gazette. The newspaper provided a copy of the apology to The Associated Press.

"I'm not sure just what I was attempting to say but it did not come out correct," he wrote. "What I said is demeaning of all women, not what I believe and irrelevant to the sentencing. My apologies to all my fellow citizens."

"I will add an addendum to the court file to hopefully better explain the sentence," he added.

A protest scheduled for Thursday outside Yellowstone County Courthouse will go on despite the apology, said organizer Sheena Rice, stressing that it's important for the community to show it is not going to stand for victim blaming.

"I'm glad he apologized, but he should have known better as a judge," Rice said. "The fact that he said it makes me think he still believes it."

A petition will be circulated at the protest calling for Baugh's resignation. An online version of the petition had more than 8,500 signatures by Wednesday morning.

If the petition and protest aren't enough to force Baugh's resignation, protesters will shift to defeating him in the 2014 election, Rice said.

He was first elected to the bench in 1984 and has been re-elected every six years since then without an opponent.

Rambold was charged in October 2008 with three counts of sexual intercourse without consent after authorities alleged he had an ongoing sexual relationship with Cherice Moralez, starting the previous year when she was 14. Moralez killed herself in 2010 at age 16 while the case was pending.

The girl's mother, Auleia Hanlon, said in a statement to the Gazette that she no longer believes in justice after Baugh's sentence and remarks about her daughter.

"She wasn't even old enough to get a driver's license. But Judge Baugh, who never met our daughter, justified the paltry sentence saying she was older than her chronological age," Hanlon said. "I guess somehow it makes a rape more acceptable if you blame the victim, even if she was only 14."

Under state law, children younger than 16 cannot consent to sexual intercourse.

Yellowstone County Attorney Scott Twito previously said he disagreed with the judge's ruling but would not appeal it.

"The judge's reasons are his reasons and his reasons alone. He has broad authority under state law, given the proper criteria," Twito said Tuesday.

[beli]

[zeebee]

That Judge needs to get the boot--older than her chronological age-WTF!
She was fourteen, I don't care if she was active with a boyfriend (making this up-I am not saying that she was active in any way), she legally cannot consent.
And how does a 54 yo get bamboozled by a 14 yo---by submitting to their lust--He did the wrong thing and should have been sentenced for longer and the judge sucks balls for disparaging that poor girl that way. Motherfucking misogonist.

She bamboozled him by waving her female-ness in front of him!

[dianalyn]

This story has really blown up with people being outraged but one thing I keep hearing is how he is sure to re-offend, he could not even finish the court ordered program. This is a horrible attitude imo, in other words, we have to wait for him to molest or rape someone else before he can be punished

[debk589]

A woman whose 14-year-old daughter killed herself after she was raped by a teacher won't accept the apology of a judge who sentenced the man to a month in jail.

BILLINGS, Mont. — The mother of a 14-year-old girl who was raped by her teacher and later committed suicide appeared at a raucous Thursday protest against the judge who sentenced the man to a month in jail and said the victim was "older than her chronological age."

The protest came as prosecutors considered an appeal of the sentence by Montana District Judge G. Todd Baugh, whose actions in the case have drawn condemnation from across the country. Joining in the backlash was Montana's governor, who said the judge's comments "made me angry."

The victim's mother, Auliea Hanlon, said the judge was merely "covering his butt" when he apologized on Wednesday for his comments. She criticized him for standing by the relatively light sentence given to former Billings Senior High School teacher Stacey Rambold.

Related: Judge apologizes for comments on teacher rape case

"He's just covering his butt. He wouldn't have said anything if people hadn't spoken up," Hanlon told an Associated Press reporter. "He didn't reverse his decision, so it's irrelevant."

Hanlon's daughter, Cherice Moralez, killed herself before Rambold's case came to trial.

Billings Public Schools Superintendent Terry Bouck described Rambold's actions with Moralez in 2007 as "repugnant." He said the months-long relationship between teacher and student was grossly inappropriate, and that he disagreed with the 30-day sentence.

A legal review of Monday's sentencing suggests Rambold may have gotten off too easily.

Montana rape case: Protesters on the Yellowstone County Courthouse lawn in Billings, Mont. Thursday, Aug. 29AP Photo: Matthew Brown
Protesters gather on the Yellowstone County Courthouse lawn in Billings, Mont. Thursday, Aug. 29, calling for the resignation of Judge G. Todd Baugh.
That review determined that if Baugh had applied the proper section of state law, the defendant would have received a minimum of two years in prison, according to a memo sent by Yellowstone County Attorney Scott Twito to the appellate division of the state Attorney General's Office.

Prosecutors had sought a 20-year sentence with 10 years suspended. Baugh ordered Rambold to serve 15 years, with all but 31 days suspended and a one day credit for time already served.

The state has 20 days to appeal the sentence. Twito said he's working with the appellate division to decide whether to take that step.

"It will be looked at and reviewed carefully before any action or any decision is made," Twito said.

JUDGE DOESN'T INTEND TO RESIGN

Baugh was first elected to the bench in 1984 and has been re-elected every six years since without an opponent. Originally from Texas, he is the son of legendary NFL quarterback Sammy Baugh of the Washington Redskins.

He has said he does not intend to resign, but "deserved to be chastised" for his comments about the victim.

The judge also said during Monday's sentencing hearing that Moralez had as much control of the situation as Rambold.

He later told reporters that what he said was wrong, irrelevant to the case, demeaning of women and not reflective of his beliefs.

Baugh said the sentence was based on Rambold's violation of an earlier deal he made with prosecutors, rather than the original crime. An addendum to the sentencing order filed Thursday further explained his rationale.

In 2010, after Moralez committed suicide, effectively scuttling the case, prosecutors agreed to defer Rambold's prosecution for three years and dismiss the charges if he completed a sexual offender treatment program.

The case was revived in December after prosecutors learned Rambold, 54, was kicked out of that program for having unsupervised visits with minors who were family members and not telling counselors he was having a sexual relationship with a woman.

"There were violations of the treatment program, but they involved no violence, no inappropriate sexual conduct, and no new criminal activity," Baugh wrote.

He added that the sentencing was also influenced by information that has not been made public: A 2013 psychological evaluation of the defendant and two interviews with Moralez, by law enforcement officers in 2008 and by Rambold's attorney in 2009.

Asked about Thursday's rally, the judge said only that the protesters were within their rights to peaceably assemble and air their grievances.

The rally packed the courthouse lawn with many people carrying signs such as "Justice for Cherice" and "Baugh Needs to Resign."

Roughly 34,000 people have signed a petition for Baugh's resignation. And protesters will seek to defeat Baugh if he seeks re-election in 2014, said organizer Sheena Rice.

Protester Pete Taylor, a 51-year-old head waiter at a local restaurant, sported a T-shirt on which he'd written "14 is 14."

"What (Baugh) did and what he said was so out of step with Billings," Taylor said. "The young girl was not old enough to make decisions for herself."

Gov. Steve Bullock said in a statement that he had no authority over the judge's decision and any complaints would be handled by the state Judicial Standards Commission.

http://news.msn.com/crime-justice/mo...msnnews&stay=1

-----------------------------

Good for her, she absolutely shouldn't accept his apology. I don't even know how I'd react if this were my daughter. I might have to get all Kevansvault on this judge. Hell by his logic Hannah Anderson and her abductor were in a mutual partnership!! Un fucking believable.

[Monter]

This is another case that is going to make me aneurysm..
Why on earth would people believe females are under attack?

[Nic B]

So wait, am I reading this correctly? He originally was going to have all charges dropped if he agreed to take a sexual offender treatment program, but when they found he had been kicked out, that is when the judge sentenced him to 30 days?? That is effing ridiculous!

[neenerneener]

YUSSSSSSSSS!!!!!

http://news.msn.com/crime-justice/pr...-rape-sentence

Can someone copy/paste the article please? Its a pain in the ass to do so from my tablet.

[bowieluva]

Women: slightly less popular than teenage black kids.

[animosity]

Attorney Scott Twito said District Judge Todd Baugh likely erred by misapplying state criminal codes and sentencing recommendations.

A Montana prosecutor said on Friday he intended to appeal as too lenient a 31-day sentence for a former teacher who raped a teenage student who later committed suicide.

District Judge G. Todd Baugh has come under harsh criticism since sentencing former Billings high school teacher Stacey Rambold on Monday to 15 years in prison, then suspending all but 31 days of that term, for the 2007 rape of 14-year-old Cherice Moralez.

Before handing down the sentence, Baugh said that Moralez, who committed suicide in 2010, was "probably as much in control of the situation" as Rambold, describing her as a troubled youth who seemed older than her age.

Yellowstone County Attorney Scott Twito said that Baugh, who has since apologized for his remarks, likely erred by misapplying state criminal codes and sentencing recommendations that would have required a minimum of two years in jail.

"I understand the importance of what has happened here, and we are moving as quickly as we can to right a grave injustice," said Twito, whose office had recommended the judge impose a 20-year jail sentence with half of it suspended.

He said he has spent the last week consulting with appellate experts at the state Attorney General's Office about appealing the sentence before the Montana Supreme Court. The state has 20 days to file such a motion once the judgment is signed by Baugh.

"At the end of the day, you have a girl in our community who has been lost. And you have a family who is still suffering," he said.

Rambold had been charged by Yellowstone County prosecutors in 2008 with three counts of sexual intercourse without consent, the Montana equivalent of a rape charge, linked to Moralez, a student in a technology class he taught at Senior High School in Billings.

But Moralez killed herself in 2010 before the case could go to trial, crippling a prosecution case that depended on her testimony.

In an agreement with prosecutors later that year, Rambold admitted to a single count of sexual intercourse without consent and prosecutors agreed to postpone the case for three years and dismiss it entirely if Rambold completed sex offender treatment.

Prosecutors reinstated the case after being notified last year by the treatment center that Rambold, who was suspended in 2008 from his teaching post and later resigned, had been dismissed from the program for violating its rules.

In April, Rambold pleaded guilty to the rape charge stemming from the 2007 assault of Moralez in his Billings home, according to legal documents.

[beli]

The Montana judge who said a teen rape victim appeared “older than her chronological age” has sentenced a man convicted of punching his girlfriend to write “Boys do not hit girls” 5,000 times.

District Judge G. Todd Baugh also sentenced Pacer Anthony Ferguson, 27, to six months in jail and to pay $3,800 in restitution for fracturing the woman’s face in three places during an August 2012 argument.

The judge ordered Ferguson on Monday to number the list, sign it and mail it to him by May 23, The Billings Gazette reported.

Baugh set off a public furor when he made the comment about the 14-year-old rape victim and sentenced her teacher-rapist to only a month in prison. The state is appealing the sentence and women’s groups are calling for Baugh’s removal from the bench.

A jury earlier this month convicted Ferguson of misdemeanor assault, but acquitted him of felony aggravated assault and felony witness tampering after he admitted in court to punching the woman.

A surgeon implanted a permanent mesh titanium plate in the victim’s face to repair the damage. The woman testified that she still suffers double vision when she looks up or down and that she has occasional pain and numbness in her face.

Ferguson also appeared Monday in a separate hearing before District Judge Gregory R. Todd for a hearing on a sentence for a felony attempted robbery in 2003.

In that case, Ferguson attempted to rob a man at knife point in a Walmart parking lot, according to court records.

Todd ruled that Ferguson violated the terms of his release for the 2003 robbery multiple times, including with the assault on the woman.

Todd revoked Ferguson’s prior sentence and ordered him to spend eight years in the Montana State Prison to run concurrent to his sentence for the assault.

Chief Deputy Yellowstone County Attorney Juli M. Pierce said after the hearing that she respects the two sentences the judges gave Ferguson.


http://www.greatfallstribune.com/vie...not-hit-girls-