Teacher Gets 30 Days for Rape of Student, 14

Troubled girl later committed suicide
By Rob Quinn,  Newser Staff
Posted Aug 28, 2013 1:42 AM CDT
Updated Aug 28, 2013 6:53 AM CDT

A Montana teacher found guilty of raping a troubled 14-year-old girl who later committed suicide will spend just 30 days in jail because the judge decided the girl was "older than her chronological age" and "was as much in control of the situation" as her teacher. After the girl's suicide just before her 17th birthday made the case hard to prosecute, teacher Stacey Dean Rambold, 54, entered a deferred prosecution agreement—which he violated by missing sex offender treatment meetings and having unsupervised visits with minors, the Billings Gazette reports.

Rambold—who had previously been warned to avoid touching female students—targeted the troubled girl and violated his position of trust by beginning a sexual relationship with her, said prosecutors, who asked for a sentence of at least 20 years, with 10 suspended. His defense argued that he had already been punished enough by the loss of his career and his marriage. The girl's mother, who testified that the relationship with Rambold was a "major factor" in her daughter's suicide, screamed "You people suck!" after the sentence was announced. (More sex offenders stories.)

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