A Montana father was sentenced by a judge to only 60 days in jail and his supposed 25-year sentence was suspended despite admitting that he had raped his 12-year-old daughter. More than 13,000 people have signed the online petition to impeach the judge who handed down the sentence.
People reported that Judge John C. McKeon sentenced the man, who has not been identified, on Oct. 4. The defendant is a resident of Glasgow, Montana and has not been named in order to protect the identity of the child. As part of a plea deal, the father will have to register as a sex offender and will be on probation for the next three decades. He admitted that he had raped his daughter once.
The two other rape charges against the father were also dismissed due to the plea deal. Judge McKeon said during the sentencing that he was moved by the letters of support for the father as well as the members of the church where the defendant goes to.
The prosecutor in the case, Dylan Jensen, said that he was shocked and disappointed with the ruling but noted that he would respect it. Jensen recommended a 100-year jail sentence.
According to Breitbart, out of the 60-day sentence, the man had also served 17 days before the punishment was handed down. He will also undergo community-based sex-offender treatment. Accordingly, the judge deems he will not do the crime again and is not a threat to the community. A social worker testifying on the man's behalf also noted that he is of low-risk when it comes to re-offending.
It is unclear how many times did the rape happen but court records claimed that the girl's mother walked in on one of the sexual assaults. The mother of the girl, the family of the man, as well as his employer, reportedly supports him that is why the judge handed down such sentence. He also said that a psycho-sexual evaluation found that the offender could be treated and supervised as a sex offender in the community.
As for the online petition seeking McKeon's impeachment, the statement reads that it is time to "start punishing the judges who let these monsters walk our streets." McKeon is set to retire next month after 22 years of serving as a state judge.
