Martin Blake: Montana Man Agrees To 25-Year Prison Sentence After Raping 12-Year-Old Relative, But Judge Lets Him Off Without Any Jail Time Instead

Martin Blake admitted to raping a 12-year-old girl, but the Montana man will get off without a single day in jail after a controversial decision from a local judge.

The 40-year-old had been convicted of raping the young girl and was in court this week to learn his sentence. Judge John McKeon sentenced him to 30 years in Montana State Prison but then suspended the entire sentence. Blake was ordered to spend 60 days in jail but then given credit for 17 days he had already served, KRTV reported.

The sentence came as a shock to prosecutors, who in exchange for a guilty plea had set up a deal for Martin Blake to be sentenced to 100 years in state prison, with 75 of those years suspended. Valley County Attorney Dylan Jensen had dropped two other rape charges against Blake in exchange for him pleading guilty to raping the 12-year-old, the KRTV report noted.

Public defender Casey Moore noted that Blake would be under supervision for the rest of his life, the Glasgow Courier reported.

“I’m not asking that he be given a slap on the wrist,” Moore said. “He did spend 17 days in jail, and he did lose his job.”

Although the exact relationship between Martin Blake and the victim was not noted, the girl was in some way related as the formal charge was felony incest.

As the Glasgow Courier reported, social worker Michael Sullivan testified that Martin Blake suffered hardships after his arrest, including losing his job and the support of some of his family. Sullivan testified that it would be important for Blake to attend a community-based sex-offender treatment and to have social support during that time.

Some family members spoke on Blake’s behalf at the sentencing, the report added.

“During his testimony, Blake indicated that he is currently living with his mother and stepdad, is employed, and attends church every Sunday. His testimony was confirmed when his mother took the stand and indicated, ‘My son is welcome at my home for any time that he needs.'”

Martin Blake’s sentence comes on the heels of another controversial rape sentence that sparked a national dialogue about the treatment of convicted rapists. In the summer, Stanford University Brock Turner was convicted of raping a fellow student in a January 2015 attack. A prosecutor recommended a six-year sentence, but instead, a judge gave Turner just six months in jail.

To add to the controversy, Turner’s father wrote a letter to the court and described the violent rape as “20 minutes of action.” Santa Clara County Superior Court Judge Aaron Persky agreed that a long sentence would have too much impact on the young Turner.

Mugshot via @SCCoSheriff of ex-@Stanford swimmer Brock Turner, who got 6mos in jail for raping unconscious woman pic.twitter.com/I7ipMCdXq1

— Henry K. Lee (@henrykleeKTVU) June 6, 2016

The decision sparked outrage and led millions to speak out, including many who signed a Change.org petition to recall Judge Persky.

“Judge Persky failed to see that the fact that Brock Turner is a white male star athlete at a prestigious university does not entitle him to leniency,” the petition read (via CNN). “He also failed to send the message that sexual assault is against the law regardless of social class, race, gender or other factors. Please help rectify this travesty to justice.”

There was more anger after the victim spoke out in a pointed 12-page letter, describing the pain of the rape and the fallout that followed.

“My life has been on hold for over a year, a year of anger, anguish and uncertainty, until a jury of my peers rendered a judgment that validated the injustices I had endured,” she wrote.

Although Martin Blake avoided jail for raping the 12-year-old relative, he was not without punishment entirely. He will be required to meet a number of conditions, including registering as a sex offender.

[Featured Image by Valley County Sheriff’s Office]