Judge Aims to Resentence “30-Day” Rapist

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. Todd Baugh 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.