A teacher who spent a month in prison for the rape of a 14-year-old student was re-sentenced to 10-years on Friday. Stacey Dean Rambold, whose victim committed suicide in 2007 while the case was still pending, seemed to grimace as the sentence was read. "The criminal justice system worked today," Yellowstone County prosecutor Scott Twito told The Associated Press. "Fourteen is way too young."
The case drew global scorn last summer when Judge G. Todd Baugh issued a 30-day sentence, seeming to blame the victim for a sultry, adult attitude that contributed to the incident. At first he defended the sentence in the face of protests, telling reporters that Cherice Moralez was "older than her chronological age." In April, the state Supreme Court overturned Baugh's sentence, and, amid the re-sentencing, Baugh announced that he would step down when his term is over in January. John Morales, the victim's father, said he hoped for a still longer sentence — but, he added, a decade is better than a month.
IN-DEPTH
- Montana Judge Who Partly Blamed Teen Rape Victim Censured
- Judge Defends Decision to Sentence Teacher to 30 Days for Sex With Teen
