The Montana judge who sparked a furor when he sentenced a former teacher to 30 days in jail for the rape of a 14-year-old girl has ordered a man convicted of punching his girlfriend to write “Boys do not hit girls,” 5,000 times, it was reported Tuesday.
District Judge G. Todd Baugh sentenced Pace Anthony Ferguson to the writing exercise at Yellowstone County District Court Monday, in addition to the maximum allowed jail time of six months, for fracturing the woman’s face in three places, the Billings Gazette reported.
Ferguson, 27, also was ordered to pay $3,800 towards the victim’s medical bills, it said.
Ferguson later appeared before District Judge Gregory R. Todd for a disposition hearing, the Los Angeles times reported. It said the judge ruled that Ferguson had violated the terms of his release from prison after a 2003 robbery conviction and ordered Ferguson to spend eight years in state prison.
Chief Deputy Yellowstone County attorney Juli M. Pierce said after the hearing that she respects the two sentences the judges gave Ferguson, according to the Billings Gazette.
“We’ll continue to prosecute domestic violence cases no matter what the outcome is,” the newspaper quoted her as saying Monday. “We’ll continue to fight that fight because that’s why we’re here – for the protection of the community.”
Baugh described himself as a "blithering idiot" for having said Aug. 26 that a rape victim was "older than her chronological age" and was as much in control of the situation" as her attacker. His original sentence was later revised at a state court.
Related: Embattled Montana judge orders new sentencing for teacher convicted of sex with student
