First and foremost, as a parent seeing a high school teacher sentenced to one month in prison after admitting to raping a 14-year old student (who took her own life afterwards) is heartbreaking.

Equally heartbreaking and repulsive is hearing the sentencing judge, G. Todd Baugh, say the 14-year old victim “seemed older than her chronological age” and was “as much in control of the situation” as the teacher.

To put Montana Judge Baugh’s ruling in perspective, lets look at the penalties in Montana for personal possession and the insanity that is the war on cannabis. First-time possession of 60 grams (~2.1 oz) or less of marijuana, or even the possession of paraphernalia, has an incarceration period of 6 months. Get caught a second time with 60 grams or less, it’s 3 years of incarceration.

So in good ‘ol Montana law terms, you can have a bong or a little shake in your pocket, or you can rape 6 young teenagers… either way it’s 6 months in jail. It’s no surprise Montana made MPP’s Worst State Legislators of 2013 list.

If only Montana politicians and judges were in “as much in control of the situation” as apparently this child was.