Columbia Falls man sentenced for rape of girl, 13

An 18-year-old Columbia Falls man who had sex with a 13-year-old girl will see limited incarceration.

Ryan Taylor was sentenced March 21 in Flathead District Court to two years with the Montana Department of Corrections followed by eight years of probation.

District Judge David Ortley recommended Taylor be placed in the Treasure State Correctional Training Center, a 90- to 120-day military-style program including classes on victimology, criminal thinking errors and anger management as well as substance abuse treatment and academic schooling.

Ortley also recommended that after Taylor completes that program, the remainder of his Corrections Department sentence be suspended and he should be placed on the six-month Intensive Supervision Program prior to being released on standard probation.

Taylor had pleaded guilty to felony sexual intercourse without consent after having sex with the girl — whose age he knew — five times. He later told a detective that he had told a friend he felt like a child molester because of his actions, which he regretted.

A juvenile case charging Taylor with misdemeanor theft was dismissed in exchange for his guilty plea to the rape charge.

Ortley also designated Taylor a Tier 1 sex offender, indicating the lowest risk of committing another sexual offense.