Sex offender pleads guilty to attack on Lakeside woman

The trial of a man with a history of sexual offenses ended abruptly Tuesday after he pleaded guilty to attempted rape and aggravated assault.

Jeffrey Allen Westfall, 53, of Butte, was charged in Flathead County District Court with attempted sexual intercourse without consent and aggravated assault after an Aug. 23, 2020 incident in Lakeside. Court records show Westfall has a criminal record involving sexual offenses that dates back more than 30 years.

Flathead County Deputy Attorney Andrew Clegg said he planned to request a 50-year sentence with no parole for 15 years.

Westfall is being held on $500,000 bail in the Flathead County Detention Center. He is scheduled to be sentenced 1:30 p.m. Thursday, May 27.

The victim in the crime, a 69-year-old woman who was managing the Edgewater RV Resort with her 70-year-old husband, testified to the events that unfolded the night of Aug. 22 and the early hours of Aug. 23.

She explained that she and her husband will be married 50 years in May and that the couple has managed the resort for the last decade.

“We’ve lived in our RV since 2004 and we met the owner of Edgewater in Arizona and have managed the resort since 2011,” the victim said. “We lived in a house on the property and the office was attached to the house. I work the front desk and my husband does some maintenance.”

On the night of Aug. 22, the victim said a woman driving a silver Audi had checked in to Edgewater just after 9 p.m. She indicated there was another guest and the woman said she had a dog.

“I went to bed around midnight, but at about 12:23 a.m. a man from Texas called to inquire about a room,” the victim said. “A minute later I heard footsteps on the porch and the doorbell rang twice.”

The victim said she opened the door to find Westfall. She then asked if he wanted a room, but he didn’t reply.

“He then pushed me a few times. Then he hit me and tried to get my clothes off,” she said. “I screamed for my husband and I had this thought ‘what if I couldn’t see my family again.’”

But her husband, who had been asleep, heard his wife’s screams, entered the office and kicked Westfall in the butt. Westfall turned and the two men fought briefly before the accused ran out of the office.

THE ENTIRE incident was captured on video surveillance and was shown in court Tuesday.

Deputy Attorney Clegg referenced the video in his opening statement.

“Who likes scary movies?” Clegg asked the jury of 10 women and four men. “Because you are going to see one today.”

“He gets her pants and underwear off and it’s enough to make you sick,” Clegg said. “And then what does the defendant do? Like a scared coyote he runs out of there and drives to Anaconda. In the process, he cuts his neck and his wrists. He talks to his now ex-girlfriend and admits to her what he did.”

While it was difficult to distinguish the identity of the person assaulting the woman in the video because of a ball cap he wore, the victim didn’t hesitate to point at Westfall when Clegg asked her if the man who assaulted her was in the courtroom.

The victim held her face in her hands while she watched the video and then explained how one of Westfall’s punches broke her jaw. She also suffered a swollen and black eye from another blow.

Despite her injuries, she didn’t have them checked until Monday when she visited a clinic.

“The doctor there told me I needed to go to KRMC (Kalispell Regional Medical Center) for x-rays,” she said.

Clegg showed photos of the woman’s injuries and she explained she needed surgery to repair her jaw with a metal plate and screws.

Investigators with the Flathead County Sheriff’s Office started putting the pieces together later that day when housekeeping workers reported a woman who refused to leave her room.

According to court documents, when one of the officers responded to Edgewater, he met with a woman who said Westfall left her at the motel in the early morning hours and was driving in a silver colored Audi.

Westfall’s public defender Greg Rapkoch was brief in his cross examination of the victim. He asked her if the man had removed his clothing and she said he hadn’t.

After she identified Westfall as her attacker, a Flathead County District Judge Heidi Ulbricht called for a recess.

When the recess was over, the judge announced the attorneys for both sides and Westfall were going to meet in her chambers. After nearly an hour, they announced Westfall had accepted a plea deal.

ACCORDING TO charging documents, a county detective investigating the case reviewed Westfall’s criminal history and learned he was a registered sex offender living in Butte. The detective then spoke to a Silver Bow County investigator who said Westfall is a suspect in a burglary and sexual assault case after allegedly attempting to enter a retirement home and assault elderly women.

According to a May 5 story in the Montana Standard, Westfall was arrested on a felony complaint of attempted sexual intercourse without consent following a report that he was wandering into rooms at Big Sky Senior Living and allegedly asked one resident if she wanted a massage.

Officers said when they responded to the facility they found Westfall in a resident's room. According to staff, he had entered, or attempted to enter, at least three rooms in the facility.

Court documents also show Westfall has been convicted of 13 felonies, including rape, attempted rape, burglary, felony DUI, possession of stolen property and failure to register as a sexual offender.

Westfall is listed in the Montana Department of Justice sex offender website as a sexually violent predator. He was sentenced June 1, 1987, for the rape of a 31-year-old woman in Everett, Washington.

Scott Shindledecker may be reached at 758-4441 or shindledecker@dailyinterlake.com.