Teen faces jail time in rape case

A 17-year-old boy faces prison time for the forcible rape of a 14-year-old girl in Kalispell last June.

On Friday, Michael Kullberg of Eureka entered an Alford plea to the rape charge. It does not admit guilt, but acknowledges that he probably would be found guilty at trial.

Kullberg's plea is a result of an agreement with prosecutor Lori Adams, who will recommend a 20-year sentence with 15 years suspended. That recommendation could be modified if a presentence investigation suggests a different term is appropriate.

Kullberg was 6 years old in 1995 when he and another boy started a fire that destroyed the Lakeside Marina, valued at more than $1 million. He and his family moved to Eureka after that.

He was back in the Flathead Valley last summer when he met up with some Kalispell youths. According to court records, the teenagers drove around for a while and stopped in the parking lot of the WestCoast Outlaw Hotel.

Kullberg and a girl went for a walk and he said he wanted to have sex with her. She declined and said she was 14. He pushed her down to the ground and raped her, according to the criminal complaint against him.

Afterward, she went to the Super 8 motel to call her friends. Kullberg also used a telephone there and a clerk heard him brag to a friend he had just had sex with a 15-year-old girl.

The girl went to the hospital for a rape exam. She was bruised and there was evidence of a struggle, according to the report.

District Judge Stewart Stadler will sentence Kullberg on April 27. Before that, a sex-offender evaluation and the presentence report must be done.

Kullberg is represented by public defender Tara Fugina.

Reporter Chery Sabol may be reached at 758-4441 or by e-mail at csabol@dailyinterlake.com