OUTRAGEOUS!!!!
The judge should be barred from the bench!
oh, he's retiring, how convenient, at least he'll be gone!
District judge retires after 22 years
District Judge McKeon hangs up his robe this November
Montana father gets probation after he admits to raping 12-year-old daughter
Tom Cahill | October 13, 2016
Martin Joseph Blake admitting in court to raping his own child. But despite his horrendous crime, he’s getting off with probation.
Blake, 40, of Glasgow, Montana, was initially charged with three felony counts of incest for raping his 12-year-old daughter on multiple occasions. He pleaded guilty to one felony incest charge in order to have the other two felonies dismissed.
As part of his guilty plea, Blake was sentenced to 30 years in prison, with all 30 years suspended in place of probation and having to register as a sex offender. Valley County prosecuting attorney Dylan Jensen recommended 100 years in state prison with 75 years suspended as part of a plea agreement, meaning Blake would spend 25 years in prison.
However, in his ruling, Judge John C. McKeon defended the light sentence as “quite restrictive,” and said the sentence was appropriate given Blake’s support from family, friends, and the community. Under Judge McKeon’s sentence, Blake will serve 60 days in jail, with credit for 17 days of time served, meaning he only has to spend 43 days in prison.
The kid-gloves treatment Blake received despite the crime is indicative of how embedded rape culture and white privilege is in the American judicial system.
Blake’s public defender, Casey Moore, said the sentence was appropriate, arguing that Blake had already suffered enough.
“I’m not asking that he be given a slap on the wrist,” Moore said in his argument in the courtroom. “He did spend 17 days in jail, and he did lose his job.”
However, Jensen said even if the other two felonies were dismissed, it still doesn’t mean the crime he admitted to committing wasn’t still heinous.
“A father repeatedly raped his 12-year-old daughter,” Jensen said.
Jensen told local media he was “disappointed” by Judge McKeon’s ruling. He declined to comment further.
Watch KRTV’s coverage of the Blake sentencing below:
http://usuncut.com/news/montana-father-probation/
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