US man, who repeatedly raped his 12-yr-old daughter, gets 60 days in jail

Helena: An US man, who repeatedly raped his 12-year-old daughter, will have to spend only 43 days in jail, a sentencing that has resulted in a furore, with several people demanding to impeach the judge who passed the sentence.

According to a report in The Washington Post, Montana Judge John McKeon awarded him a jail term of 60 days. But as the man, who pleaded guilty to repeatedly raping his minor daughter, was already in prison for 17 days, he will have to serve only 43 days of the jail term.

McKeon gave him a 30-year suspended prison sentence that the convict from Glasgow, Montana, would serve only if he fails to abide by the conditions of his probation.

Judge McKeon, who faced backlash for the lenient sentencing, defended himself, mentioning an exception to the mandatory 25-year prison sentence.

He said a convict can avoid jail term if a psychosexual evaluation finds that psychiatric treatment “affords a better opportunity for rehabilitation of the offender and for the ultimate protection of the victim and society.”

The sentencing in the case of the father was an attempt “to encourage and provide opportunities for an offender’s self-improvement, rehabilitation and reintegration back into a community," he said.

The victim’s mother and grandmother had also written to McKeon, requesting to not sentence the man to jail as his children, “especially his sons, will be devastated if their Dad is no longer part of their lives.”

The petition on change.org, seeking to impeach McKeon, continues to garner signatures despite the judge’s defence. The petition that requires 50,000 signatures has 38,665 supporters as of Thursday morning.