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Montana Man, Martin Blake, Admits To Incest Rape Of A 12-Year-Old Girl, Is Sentenced To Probation [Video]

By Patricia Ramirez
Published on: 15:54 PST, Oct 15, 2016

Martin Blake, a 40-year-old Montana man, admitting to the incest rape of a 12-year-old female member of his family earlier this year. Initially, prosecutors in the case charged Blake with several counts of incest rape against the young girl, but as part of the Montana man’s plea agreement decided to allow Blake to admit guilt to a single charge.

As The Daily Mail reports, Montana man Martin Blake agreed, as part of his plea deal, to a 100-year prison sentence for his horrendous crimes, with 75 years of that sentence suspended. In total, the admitted child sex offender agreed to a sentence that would have kept him imprisoned and off the streets for 25 years. However, at his sentencing hearing on Friday at Valley District Court, the public was shocked and stunned by the judge’s actions in court.

During the hearing, Judge John C. McKeon opted not to sentence Martin Blake to a single night in prison. Rather, he sentenced the Montana man to a nothing more than probation for the next three decades. Reportedly, local citizens are outraged that the presiding judge ruled that Martin Blake would walk from the jail a free man. A free child sex offender who would be back in the community around his children, his young relatives, and the children of complete strangers.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qwSX85Xgweg

Indeed, the local Glasgow, Montana community is so furious over the admitted child sex offender’s sentence that a petition has been created to have the judge that presided over Martin Blake’s case removed from the bench. The Petition To Impeach Judge John McKeon has already gathered nearly 10,000 signatures.

“No one spoke on behalf of the 12 year old child at trial. No one.”

“It is time to start punishing the judges who let these monsters walk our streets.”

“Judge Mckeon is retiring very soon and does NOT deserve to collect retirement from the people of Montana. He did not fulfil the duties of the position we elected him for. He acted without respect for the laws of the state of Montana.”

NBC Montana also reports that the judge in the Martin Blake case has spoken publicly in his own defense. According to McKeon, the Montana man’s own family (which are also family members of his victim, a victim that was allegedly repeatedly raped by Martin Blake) sent letters to the court begging for leniency in the case.

Additionally, the judge who handed down the prison-free sentence for Montana man Martin Blake added that nobody in the family spoke on the behalf of or in defense of the 12-year-old rape victim during the sentencing hearing.

Reportedly, an evaluation by the court indicated that Martin Blake could be successfully and safely treated and monitored within the local community.

In addition to his 30 years of probation, Montana man Martin Blake was also sentenced to 60 days in jail, but given credit for 17 days that he’d already served. He is also going to be required to undergo “sex offender treatment.” According to the judge in the case, Blake’s sentence was “quite restrictive and quite rigorous.” Judge McKeon is reportedly due to retire next month.

The mother of Martin Blake’s 12-year-old victim, a mother who reportedly walked in on Martin Blake sexually assaulting her preteen child, gave a statement to the court begging for her daughter’s rapist to be treated, not imprisoned.

“I do not feel 25 years in prison is necessarily the best way for the defendant to pay for what he has done. The defendant made a horrible choice. He needs help – not to spend 25 years locked up. He is not a monster, just a man that really screwed up and has been paying in many ways since and will continue to have to pay through this justice system and with the loss of family and friends and his own conscience.”

[Image by Shutterstock]

Likewise, the victim’s grandmother also spoke out on behalf of the Montana man who allegedly repeatedly raped her 12-year-old granddaughter and who admitted to at one count of incest rape prior to sentencing. According to the victim’s grandmother, Martin Blake’s young sons would have been harmed and “devastated” if their father was imprisoned for two-and-a-half decades.

“What he (the defendant) did to my granddaughter was horrible, and he should face consequences. And I certainly never want it to happen again to anyone. But his children, especially his sons, will be devastated if their Dad is no longer part of their lives.”

[Image by Valley District Court]

While the judge in the case of Montana man Martin Blake is reportedly satisfied with Blake’s prison-less sentence, the prosecutor in the horrific case of repeated, incest-related child rape is not. As Fox 13 Now reports, following the sentencing of the admitted child rapist, Valley County Attorney Dylan Jensen spoke out against the surprisingly light sentence.

According to the DA, Martin Blake’s sentence was not handed down in accordance with the agreed-upon plea agreement, and Jensen has admitted to being “very disappointed” in the judge’s controversial decision to unleash an admitted sex offender back to the local community.

What do you think? Was the sentence in this case a just one? Do admitted child sex offenders deserve lighter sentences to spend time with their children? Should the wishes of the public and the prosecutor have been heeded? What are your thoughts on the sentencing of Montana man Martin Blake?

[Featured Image by Valley County Sheriff’s Office]

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