Mont. judge faulted for alleged bias in rape case
By MATTHEW BROWN and MATT VOLZ Associated Press September 24, 2013 1:58PM
HELENA, Mont. (AP) — Critics of a Montana judge who handed down a 30-day sentence to a former teacher convicted of raping a student lodged a formal complaint Tuesday asking for his removal from the bench.
Representatives of Montana National Organization for Women and the group UltraViolet submitted the complaint against Judge G. Todd Baugh to the state Judicial Standards Commission in Helena.
It alleges Baugh showed bias against the 14-year-old victim by saying she was “older than her chronological age.”
The complaint also faults Baugh for giving convicted rapist Stacey Rambold a lenient sentence that prosecutors have since appealed as illegal.
Rambold is due to be released from prison Thursday.
Victim Cherice Moralez killed herself in 2010 before the case went to trial.
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Volz reported from Helena.
