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Man Who Raped, Sodomized, Strangled and Infected 4-Year-Old Girl With Incurable STD May Face Life in Prison

John William Lieba II stopped taking his anti-psychotic medication before the attack.

Prosecutors in the case of the Montana man who was convicted of kidnapping, aggravated sexual abuse of a child and assault resulting in serious injury are pushing for a life sentence.

In February 2017, John William Lieba II, 21, chased down a 4-year-old girl in a park on the Fort Peck Indian Reservation. Two days after the unidentified girl was reported missing, she was found, weak and dehydrated, in the cab of an old pickup truck, reported KRTV.

After the girl was taken to the hospital and examined, medical officials determined she had been raped and sodomized. Lab work determined the girl had also been infected with an incurable sexually transmitted disease, Dr. Cynthia Burrows of the Billings Clinic testified at Lieba’s April trial, according to The Flathead Beacon.

Additionally, bruises and burst blood vessels on her head and neck indicated to examiners that Lieba had tried to strangle the girl.  

“The child will forever be reminded of this trauma,” Assistant U.S. Attorney Ryan Weldon wrote in a sentencing memo to U.S. District Judge Brian Morris. “The United States without hesitation recommends life in prison. Lieba, through his actions, forced every parent in Montana to confront their worst nightmare.”

Now that the sentencing hearings for Lieba have begun, prosecutors want him to spend the rest of his life behind bars. However, defense attorneys have cited the defendant’s mental health when requesting the sentence be limited to 30 years in prison.

According to Lieba’s attorneys, he had stopped taking his anti-psychotic medication prior to the kidnapping and could not remember the events as they occurred.

“The most effective protection for the public will be for Mr. Leiba to address his substance abuse and mental health issues,” Assistant Federal Defender R. Henry Branom wrote in documents.

A sentence for Lieba is expected to be determined Wednesday. 

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