Board says spike in these crimes by young adult males on teen-age girls is not mirrored throughout the state.

Profile of a statutory rapist

Here is a list of some of the most common characteristics of a statutory rapist:

- Lack of identity

- Negative self-esteem

- Dependency on others for external validation

- Immaturity

- Impulsive drug and alcohol use

Twenty-year-old Travis Kirkland may not have known that he was doing anything wrong when he went to a house where a girl he met at a hockey game was babysitting.

After all, they were getting along pretty well -- she called him, he called her.

A get-together at her babysitting job might have seemed like a logical progression of their budding relationship.

True, Kirkland was moving pretty fast when he accompanied the girl into one of the bedrooms at the house and started kissing and touching her.

When she told him she wasn't interested in having sex with him and started calling for help, he should have stopped -- right then, right there.

Kirkland did stop short of "going all the way" -- but not before taking the encounter to a level that Montana law defines as being criminal.

While the girl's protests clearly brought the interaction with Kirkland within the parameters commonly associated with the crime of rape, a more subtle section of the law also was at work in Kirkland's case, according to law enforcement officials.

The object of Kirkland's attention was only 13 years old. In Montana, the age of consent is 16.

Despite Kirkland's protests that he thought the girl was older, his dalliance earned him a 30-month deferred sentence and 40 hours of community service. In addition, he is banned from having contact with his victim or any other female under the age of 18 with the exception of family members.

As unorthodox as it may seem -- a college-aged man courting a junior high school student -- such scenarios are becoming increasingly common in Lewis and Clark County, so common that the number of cases equals those reported throughout the entire state last year.

In 2000, only one of this type of case was filed in Lewis and Clark County, with that number doubling in 2001.

This year, seven such cases -- involving teen-aged victims with barely-of-age assailants -- have already been filed, according to Lewis and Clark County Attorney Leo Gallagher.

He added that he has three more similar cases in the hopper.

According to officials with the Montana Board of Crime Control, however, the spike is not a phenomena mirrored elsewhere in the state.

"In fact, those numbers are remarkably stable (elsewhere)," said Adriane Schaeffer, director of the statistical analysis center of the BOCC, adding that it has been that way since the early 1990s. "There have been incremental increases over the years."

In 2001, seven rapes falling within the same category as those being prosecuted in Lewis and Clark County, were reported across the state.

Schaeffer said the 2001 reports involve four 20-year-old offenders with victims ranging in age from 12 to 15; one 19-year-old offender with a 15-year-old victim; one 18-year-old offender with a 13-year-old victim; and one 17-year-old offender with a 13-year-old victim.

Statutory rape involves a victim of less than 16 years of age and an offender who is three or more years older.

Gallagher said six of the seven cases recently filed in Lewis and Clark County qualify as statutory rape cases although the facts of the cases allow him to prosecute about half of those based on the fact the victims were unwilling participants.

"We've seen a definite increase in this type of case," Gallagher said. "Why? Your guess is as good as mine."

According to Gallagher, he hasn't implemented any new, broader guidelines within his office for prosecuting such rape cases.

Nor can he make an educated guess as to why more of these types of crimes are being reported -- it's impossible to know whether these types of crimes are occurring on a more frequent basis or whether victims have become more inclined to report such violations.

It all comes down to the fact that rape cases involving juvenile victims and barely-of-age offenders continue to flow across his desk at a faster rate, opening up a Pandora's Box for law enforcement officials seeking a happy medium where the punishment fits the crime.

"We're just kind of casting about trying to find a resolution that gives (the offenders) punishment and some rehabilitative measures without having to send them to prison," Gallagher said.

Developing appropriate criminal sentences for offenders passing through the court system is an ongoing conundrum, according to Gallagher.

However, the dilemma of how to deal with the category of younger rapists emerging in this community is one that has weighed heavily this year on Gallagher, and the throng of other court officials involved in doling out punishment.

"It's difficult to know how to deal with these offenders," he said. "They don't meet the standard for sex offenders in need of long-term treatment. They don't exhibit predatory behavior."

So, is the four-year mandatory minimum punishment for sexual intercourse without consent with a minor beneficial for anyone involved?

Gallagher doesn't think so.

He explains that the majority of the offenders have little or no criminal history and likely will learn from their mistakes.

While they need to address chemical dependency issues -- alcohol, drugs and partying have played a role in the majority of the rapes -- Gallagher fears that incarcerating the men or sending them to prerelease will serve only to teach them deeper, long-lasting criminal behaviors.

In an effort to achieve a balance between punishment and rehabilitation, Gallagher has agreed to plead the statutory rape and similar sexual intercourse without consent cases that have made their way through the court process down to criminal endangerment -- in most cases, sentencing has been deferred.

However, he added that appropriate punishment is determined on a case-by-case basis.

Criminal endangerment carries a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison and/or a $50,000 fine as compared with the maximum penalty for rape of life imprisonment and/or a $50,000 fine.

Gallagher said that criminal endangerment carries no mandatory minimum as does sexual intercourse without consent.

"The incentive for (defendants) to plead out is great," Gallagher said.

Also, when offenders who are handed deferred sentences for criminal endangerment successfully complete the legal requirements of their sentences, they may ask that the court wipe the infractions from their records.

Men and women convicted of sexual intercourse without consent, on the other hand, rarely have that option, he said.

In fact, convicted rapists discharged from the legal system are required to register as sex offenders for the rest of their lives, Gallagher added.

"For now, we think (the criminal endangerment plea) is a pretty good resolution," he said.

Matthew Dale, director of the Office of Victim Services and Restorative Justice at the Montana Attorney General's Office, said he approves of Gallagher's tactics.

"Any victim's first priority is that the offender be held accountable, be given a consequence or sanction," he said, adding that the worst scenario would be for the offender to skate away from the incident without any public recognition of his or her crime.

As an aside, Dale added that Gallagher's willingness to enter into plea agreements with defendants may come as a blessing in disguise for some victims.

While he acknowledged that victim testimony is key to rape investigations, he said many victims would understandably like to avoid having to confront their alleged attackers -- and the 12 men and women assigned to judge the merits of their stories -- in court.

Just as there are no easy answers about why Lewis and Clark County has seen such a leap in the number of statutory rapes being reported, or rapes involving juveniles and young adults, remedies for the problem are just as vague.

"What we have seems to be immature adults engaging in sexual conduct with girls who are trying to grow up too fast," said Gallagher, adding that he doesn't want to be construed as a "moral policeman" as a result of his efforts to address the problem.

He said prevention ultimately will be the result of a combination of education, personal responsibility and enforcement.

Det. Bryan Fischer, sex crimes investigator for the Helena Police Department, agrees with Gallagher's analysis.

He said education begins at home.

Fischer said it is up to parents to encourage their children -- boys and girls -- to be responsible for their actions.

And one of the best ways to promote that is for parents to keep the lines of communication open and to take an interest in their children's lives.

If parents know such simple factors as who their children's friends are and how they spend their time, it could make a world of difference as to whether a teen-ager would feel confident in relaying any alleged sexual abuse to them, Fischer said.

Relating to the cases currently being prosecuted in Lewis and Clark County, a 50/50 split exists as to whether a parent or the juvenile victim is the reporting party, officials say.

Such awareness also might make a difference in whether a child finds him or herself in a situation where he or she could be taken advantage of, he said.

In a perfect world, would-be abusers would know that "no means no," Fischer said, and while that's a goal to strive for, we're not there yet.

"Prevention is the greatest deterrent," Fischer advised. "Don't get yourself into a position where you can be taken advantage of."

That means drinking responsibly -- alcohol has been a factor in the majority of the rapes reported recently, he said.

Fischer said that although Montana law prohibits anyone under the age of 21 from consuming alcohol, area teen-agers are acquiring it anyway and they need to learn to understand how it affects them.

"They are responsible for their own decisions," he said.

Fischer added that Montana youths need to acquaint themselves with Montana law relating to sexual intercourse without consent and make sure they understand how the law -- if not their own system of morals -- affects their relationships.

As alarming as the increase in the number of this type of criminal cases being prosecuted may be, the trend is somewhat encouraging for law enforcement officials.

According to Dale, who was director at Helena's Friendship Center for several years, rapes involving juvenile victims and older assailants are frequent in this community.

"This is not an uncommon occurrence," he said, speaking from his experiences with rape victims.

What is more uncommon is that victims would be willing to report the rapes to police, Dale said.

Fischer also is encouraged by the increase in the number of reports coming in to his office.

Gallagher is offering reassurance to victims who step forward and report the crime, and a promise of help for would-be offenders.