Stacey Dean Rambold, 54, is a former teacher who confessed to a sexual relationship with Cherice Morales, a 14-year-old girl at his high school — a girl who later committed suicide. Despite the original charge of multiple counts of statutory rape and a sentencing to 15 years in prison, Yellowstone County District Judge G. Todd Baugh suspended all of that sentence but 31 days and then gave him credit for one day in jail. That left a sentence of 30 days for statutory rape.
In response to the sentence, the girl’s mother yelled “You people suck!” at the judge and courtroom.
Rambold pleaded guilty to the single felony charge in April. It was a delayed plea in a case from 2008. He resigned his teaching job and surrendered his teaching certificate after the disclosure of the relationship. After the girl committed suicide, the prosecution appears to have thrown in the towel on the prosecution and cut a remarkable deal with Rambold. The prosecutors agreed to put the case on hold for three years and then dismiss the rape charges if Rambold completed a sex offender treatment program and complied with other conditions. However, Rambold was terminated from the program after completing two of the three treatment phases. He had met with minors in violation of the rules, even though it was later found to be children in his own family. He was also accused of having a sexual relationship with a woman in violation of the guidelines. I am a bit surprised that this would be serious enough to terminate him but he was thrown out of the program in violation of the agreement.
Judge Baugh disagreed with the renewed prosecution and the removal of Rambold from the treatment program. He said that tapes indicated to him that the 14-year-old girl was “as much in control of the situation” as the teacher. He also decided that Cherice was “older than her chronological age.” the age of consent in Montana is 16 years old.
While I agree with the concern over the termination for visiting with minors in his own family (though it should not have happened), I still find the original prosecution deal rather surprising for a teacher who not only committed statutory rape but abused his position of authority in a public school setting. It would seem that some jail time would be warranted even if a long incarceration may be viewed as inappropriate in the circumstances. On the same measure, 30 days is remarkably low though the judge appears to be motivated in part by his view that the defendant should not have been deprived of the benefit of the original plea.
What do you think?
THIS IS LEFT OUT OF THE ARTICLE..
The case began in 2008 when prosecutors charged Rambold with three counts of sexual intercourse without consent after learning of his relationship with Moralez.
The case was still pending in February 2010 when Moralez committed suicide.
Program administrators terminated Rambold after he missed meetings, had unsupervised visits with minors and began having sex with a woman.
A civil lawsuit Hanlon filed against the school district revealed that school officials in 2004 ordered Rambold not to touch or spend time alone with female students.
The district settled the case for $91,000.
I am not a lawyer but I tend to see things like trafficking with minors in very black and white terms. This affair warrants a detailed and public investigation by the proper authorities.
“What do I think? I’m still digesting a Judge declaring a 14 year age child being in as much control of a sexual affair as her 50 year age teacher.”
Lrobby said it first and others concurred, as do I. The ruling in itself was disgraceful, but the comment by the Judge is beyond that in being loathsome. I don’t care if the girl appeared before the teacher naked, he violated his role as teacher and he proved that he is a terrible man. The Judge is unfit for the bench.
Stacey Dean Rambold of Yellowstone County Montana is a turd stain on the underpants of humanity.
Not good.
This reminds me of Roman Polanski and the 13 year old girl. Just give it about another 10-15 years and there will be a lot more of these stories. This will become the New Frontier in sexual freedom. It won’t be anybody’s business what 14 year olds do in the privacy of their bedrooms. IMO.
Squeeky Fromm
Girl Reporter
Blouise and Elaine, This is male privilege and class privilege.
Who would testify about the statutory rapes if the girl is dead? Hearsay exception for dead person perhaps? Deposition taken in which defendant’s counsel had ability to cross examine? How does one confront the witnesses against you if it is some third party saying that the dead girl said that they were porking on the porkin lot. Justice Scalia would not go for that one.
BTW my Grand Mother was 15 when she married my Grand Father….who was 32 years older than her….
I’m left wondering about the suicide…did the teacher cause it, or the authorities & parents!??
This story doesn’t add up.
According to other articles, the girl died while the criminal charges were pending. The resulting problems in proving the case may have resulted in the deal which deferred prosecution if he complied with the conditions, and also involved an admission on one count which could be used against him. The school settled for just under a hundred thousand.
Without more details as to the program violations, it’s hard to respond to the judge’s obvious view that the termination should result in a harsher sentence. I can’t imagine anything on the tape establishing a base for his comments about responsibility in the relationship.
Wow, female teachers who had sexual relationships with students got the book thrown at them HARD….this asshat screws a 14 year old and could be considered partially responsible for her suicide and gets a month? No, America has no problem with sexism and rape culture at all…
I smell a rat. It is disgusting that a rape of a child is only worth 30 days in jail.
Im not a lawyer but if the suicide was proven to be directly related to this couldn’t there be something like charges relating to reckless disregard (not sure if that is term I am looking for).
And a 14 year old older then her age so she bears responsibility? Really.
Seems more then fishy.
I agree there is more to this than meets the eye. I hope the gir’ls parents go after the school in civil court.
I do not think children are capable of consenting to sexual relations.
If a person has reached puberty; I think the sentence for sex with that person should be about twice the time difference between the child’s age at the time of the earliest infraction and the age of consent. In this case, four or five years in prison.
I’m with Lrobby99 on this one. How can anyone say a 14-year-old, boy or girl, can be in the same amount of control an an adult in any situation? Fourteen is still maturing, still figuring out the world around them, and not emotionally able to weigh those kinds of decisions when being pressured/pursued by someone they are supposed to trust. Besides, the expectation of any statutory rape case is that one of the people involved was under the age of consent, and she clearly was, even in Montana. It doesn’t matter if she was “older than her biological years” in one person’s mind. I’m sure that’s exactly what Mr. Rambold thought, too! This judge is the worst-case scenario for any family, and I hope the parents in Yellowstone County pull together to get rid of him. He’s clearly not interested in protecting the most vulnerable among them.
I agree in toto with your conclusion, Prof.
And I think something about this judgement smells fishy.
What do I think? I’m still digesting a Judge declaring a 14 year age child being in as much control of a sexual affair as her 50 year age teacher. I also think the mother went way too light with just a simple you suck.
How could the original charges stnd if the victim is deceased….. There are Many more questions Han answers I have in this one….this all seems a little odd….