Sexual assailant is sentenced

A man accused of sexually assaulting a girl at an Alcoholics Anonymous meeting was sentenced during a Thursday morning hearing.

Daniel Westphal, 23, of Kalispell, was sentenced to a six-month suspended sentence to the Flathead County Detention Center for luring a then-17-year-old girl into the bathroom, where he assaulted her in July 2009.

Westphal initially was charged with sexual intercourse without consent, a felony, but that charge was amended to a misdemeanor sexual assault charge in February.

The sentence will run concurrent to a two-year suspended sentence and a three-year suspended sentence to the Montana Department of Corrections for two other, unrelated, charges.

District Court Judge Stewart Stadler followed the state’s recommendation and also recommended Westphal receive mental health help. Westphal will reside with his mother.