Suspension Ordered for Judge Who Called Rape Victim ‘In Control’

Last year, Montana Judge G. Todd Baugh sentenced a former teacher to 31 days in jail for raping a 14-year-old student. Baugh’s justification for the unjustifiably short sentence, which was later overturned, was, he explained, that the victim was a “youth that was probably as much in control of the situation as [the teacher], one that was seemingly, though troubled, older than her chronological age.” Later, Baugh told the press, “It was horrible enough as it is just given her age, but it wasn’t this forcible beat-up rape.” Only after the victim killed herself, a result, her parents said, of emotional distress, and over 30,000 people petitioned for his resignation did Baugh apologize. And just this week, Montana’s high court ordered the judge reprimanded and suspended for violating judicial ethics. “There’s no place in the Montana judiciary for perpetuating the stereotype that women and girls are responsible for sexual crimes committed against them,” the Montana Supreme Court determined.