Defiant defendant gets four-year term for sex assault

A Flathead County man is headed to Montana State Prison for molesting a young girl, although he has maintained that he is innocent of the crime.

Shane Theodore Curtiss, 39, was sentenced on Thursday by Flathead District Court Judge Robert Allison to 15 years in prison with 11 years suspended.

As part of a plea agreement, Curtiss entered an Alford plea to sexually assaulting the girl. An Alford plea allows a defendant to maintain innocence while admitting he is likely to be found guilty at trial.

Curtiss’ attorney Lane Bennett said Curtiss entered the plea because otherwise he would have faced a mandatory minimum prison sentence for committing a sex crime against a minor.

“When the outcome if it doesn’t go well is 25 years in prison, that’s not a level playing field,” Bennett said.

Curtiss was accused of touching an underage girl inappropriately once. Witnesses reported that he begged the girl for forgiveness the next day. A friend reported to authorities that Curtiss had called him distraught after the allegedly incident and admitted to touching the girl.

Curtiss did not take responsibility at sentencing.

“I do not feel unpunished, nor will I ever feel unpunished for what I have and will endure,” Curtiss said.

Curtiss’ father, Ron, testified that he thought the girl probably believed the incident happened but he doubted it did.

“I’m not sure she didn’t dream the whole thing,” Ron Curtiss said and asked the judge how his son was supposed to feel remorse for something that never happened.

Ron Curtiss said it would be “very natural for a jury to side with a 12-year-old girl.”

He testified that he thought mandatory minimum sentence laws were unfair.

“You should decide what the proper sentence is and it shouldn’t be made by these guys over in Helena,” Ron Curtiss told the judge.

Allison acknowledged that it is difficult to issue a sentence in a case with an Alford plea, but that based on the facts presented in the case, it is likely Curtiss would have been found guilty.

“In this case, I believe it happened,” Allison said.

Bennett asked for a probationary sentence. He noted a sex offender evaluation determined Curtiss was at a low risk to reoffend.

“He is acceptable for treatment in the community,” Bennett said.

Prosecutor Travis Ahner argued that prison time was a just sentence.

Ahner read from the victim’s written statement to the judge to hammer home his point.

“‘Everyone knows when you make a mistake you have to pay for it,’” Ahner read. “I think in sum, my recommendation could have been that. Mr. Curtiss make a mistake and now he has to pay for it.”

Allison imposed a condition that Curtiss could be paroled from prison early only if he completed appropriate sex offender treatment.

Reporter Megan Strickland can be reached at 758-4459 or mstrickland@dailyinterlake.com.