A former high school teacher has been released from a Montana prison after completing a 30-day sentence for rape handed down by a judge who is under fire for both the sentence and his remarks about the 14-year-old victim. Fifty-four-year-old Stacey Rambold left the Montana State Prison on Thursday after completing his term for the 2007 rape of Cherice Moralez. Prosecutors are appealing District Judge G. Todd Baugh's sentence, and a complaint has been filed by advocates seeking Baugh's removal. Rambold is on probation and must register as a sex offender. The ex-teacher was sentenced after violating terms of a deferred prosecution agreement he made after Moralez killed herself in 2010. The judge said at the sentencing hearing that Moralez seemed "older than her chronological age." THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. Check back soon for further information. AP's earlier story is below. A former Montana high school teacher due to be released Thursday after serving a 30-day prison sentence for raping a 14-year-old student is "still skating" justice six years after the assault, the victim's mother said. Stacey Rambold, 54, will leave the Montana State Prison in Deer Lodge after completing the term handed down by District Judge G. Todd Baugh of Billings last month for the 2007 rape of Cherice Moralez. The sentence drew protests for being too lenient and outrage over comments the judge made that appeared to pin some of the blame on Moralez. Tears streamed down Auliea Hanlon's face as she described the emotions that have at times overwhelmed her since a church counselor her daughter confided in first told Hanlon about the rape. Moralez committed suicide in 2010 before Rambold went to trial. "I figured he'd be fired, go to jail, and she would be vindicated and that would be the end of it," Hanlon said Wednesday. "Instead, here it is six years later, still going on, and he's getting out. ... He's still skating." State officials say Rambold must register as a sex offender and will remain on probation as prosecutors appeal the case to the Supreme Court in hopes of sending him back to prison for a longer term. Rambold's attorney, Jay Lansing, declined to comment on the defendant's release. In court documents and during the sentencing hearing, Lansing described his client as a one-time offender with no prior record who took responsibility for his actions when he admitted to a single count of rape under a 2010 deferred prosecution agreement that was made after Moralez killed herself.

• published: 27 Sep 2013
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