Montana’s top court asked to beef up light sentence given to predatory teacher

Stacey Dean Rambold

BILLINGS, Mont. – Montana prosecutors are appealing a 30-day jail sentence handed down to a former high school teacher for raping a 14-year-old female student who later committed suicide.

In a controversial ruling in August, Judge Todd Baugh sentenced former Billings Senior High School teacher Stacey Dean Rambold, 54, to a mere month behind bars for having a sexual relationship with student Cherice Morales in 2008, a troubled 14-year-old at the time, CNN reports.

The judge has since tried to renege the light sentence, which he originally justified by claiming Morales was more mature than her age and “just as in control” of the relationship as her teacher. The state Supreme Court, however, ruled Baugh doesn’t have the legal authority to change the sentence, according to media reports.

The Montana Attorney General’s Office is now appealing the teacher’s sentence to the state Supreme Court on the grounds that it does not meet the state’s minimum two-year mandatory sentence. Prosecutors believe a 10-year prison sentence, which they originally called for at trial, is a more appropriate punishment, CNN reports.  (more...)

Montana’s top court asked to beef up light sentence given to predatory teacher