Montana District Judge Todd Baugh’s remarks to a 14-year-old rape victim, Cherice Moralez, and the light sentence for the rapist has people demanding his resignation.
According to the BBC, Baugh said the Moralez was “older than her chronological age,” back in 2008. She later committed suicide in 2010 and her mother blames it on both the assault and its aftermath.
Prosecutors in the case asked for 20 years in prison for 54-year-old Stacey Rambold, and he was sentenced to 15 on Monday. However, Baugh suspended the term, giving Rambold 31 days in jail, with one day served.
Judge Baugh them made his controversial remarks to the court and deciding that Moralez was troubled and that, Los Angeles Times reports. He also added that Moralez was “as much in control of the situation” as her rapist.
At this point Auliea Hanlon, Moralez’s mother, left the courtroom furious. In a statement she said, “She wasn’t even old enough to get a driver’s license.”
Montana Governor Steve Bullock felt “angry” and disappointed” by the comments made by Baugh.
A protest organizer, Sheena Rice, commented that “Judges should be protecting our most vulnerable children … not enabling rapists by placing blame on victims.”