Montana Judge G. Todd Baugh Apologizes for Comments in Teen's Rape case, who later commited suicide

This is a very weird case of a judge who is extremely soft on sex crimes. 

ABC News reports a Montana judge on Wednesday stood by his decision to send a former teacher to prison for 30 days for raping a 14-year-old girl who later killed herself, but said he "deserved to be chastised" for his comments about the young victim.

District Judge G. Todd Baughsentenced former Billings Senior High School teacher Stacey Rambold to 15 years, then suspended all but 31 days and gave him credit for one day already served.

In handing down the sentence Monday, Baugh said the teenage victim was "older than her chronological age" and had as much control of the situation as the teacher who raped her.

Faced with a backlash over the comments and calls for his resignation, Baugh, 71, wrote an apology in a letter to the editor of The Billings Gazette. He said his comments were demeaning of all women and not reflective of his beliefs.

Later Wednesday, the judge spoke to reporters in his office. He said he was "fumbling around" in court trying to explain his sentence and "made some really stupid remarks."

"I don't know how to pass that off. I'm saying I'm sorry and it's not who I am," Baugh said. "I deserve to be chastised. I apologize for that."

However, Rambold's sentence was appropriate, he said.

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, and the girl's mother, Auleia Hanlon, said her daughter's relationship with Rambold was a "major factor."

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," 

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This judge doesn’t belong behind the bench!