Kaleb Kuebler, 16, pleaded guilty to the rape of an 11-year-old girl while she was walking home from school in a neighborhood in Montana. Kuebler was 15 at the time of the rape, back in October 2012, and would have been tried as an adult if he had pleaded not guilty. Now, despite opposing recommendations, a judge has sentenced the teen to 75 years in the Montana State Prison.
The victim, now 12-years-old, stated in her testimony: “I felt like I was going to die. We never thought this was going to happen to me. We thought I was safe.”
It can out in the hearing though that Kuebler had a troubled childhood, and suffered emotional and physical abuse from his now deceased mother. The teen’s grandmother said of her: “She was just cruel. I basically thought she was a sociopath.”
Kuebler’s public defender also testified for him. “Kaleb is a broken boy. He’s a poster child for a kid who fell through the cracks in the system,” she said.
Kuebler even made an attempt at suicide following his guilty plea in September. On the way to the hearing, he jumped from the third floor of the courthouse and landed on his head. He was hospitalized for several days and then went back to detention.
The 75 year sentence will be suspended for 10 years, but will include $135,000 restitution. He will also have to register as a sex-offender and complete a lengthy treatment program.
