Montana incest sentence ‘reprehensible’ but no way to appeal

HELENA – Montana’s attorney general’s office says it cannot find legal grounds to challenge a “reprehensible” 60-day jail sentence for a man who raped his 12-year-old daughter.

Department of Justice spokesman Eric Sell said Monday the short sentence alone was not enough to appeal the Oct. 4 sentence issued by District Judge John McKeon.

McKeon gave the man a 30-year prison sentence but suspended all but 60 days.

Montana state law mandates minimum 25-year-prison sentences for sexual assaults of victims age 12 or younger.

McKeon said a legal exception allowed him to suspend most of sentence because a court-appointed evaluator said treatment outside of prison best to rehabilitate the offender while protecting the victim and society.

The Associated Press is not naming the convicted man because doing so could identify his daughter.