Montana Judge Wants to Take Back Sentence in Rape Case

BILLINGS, Mont. (AP) — A Montana judge appears intent on trying to undo his lenient sentence for a teacher who raped a student, despite warnings that he doesn't have that authority.

District Judge G. stoked a furor when he sent former Billings Senior High School teacher Stacey Rambold to prison for just 30 days and suggested the 14-year-old victim shared responsibility in the case.

The student committed suicide before the case went to trial. Baugh later apologized, and now says a two-year minimum prison sentence appears mandatory. He ordered Rambold returned from prison for a Friday resentencing hearing. Late Thursday, the Montana Attorney General's office filed a petition to block the hearing. The state says only the Montana Supreme Court can correct what the judge has described as an apparent "illegal" sentence.