Father pleads guilty after taking pregnant teen daughter to marry rapist

ST. ANTHONY, Idaho — An Idaho man will spend about four months in jail for taking his 14-year-old daughter to Missouri to marry a 24-year-old man who raped and impregnated her.

The Idaho State Journal reported that the father pleaded guilty to injury to a child last week, and Seventh District Judge Gregory Moeller put him behind bars for 120 days.

"I would note that the 120 days is approximately how long this vile farce of a marriage lasted," Moeller told the man at the sentencing. "While you sit in jail, you will sit and think about the 120 days your daughter was in a vile farce of a marriage to a rapist because of you."

Moeller also ordered four years of supervised probation.

The Associated Press does not generally identify victims of sexual abuse and is withholding the name of the father and man involved in the marriage to avoid identifying the girl.

Court documents say the father believed that a man should marry a girl he gets pregnant. He picked a state where 14-year-olds can legally wed.

"I love my daughter very much and I would never do anything to intentionally harm her or put her in harm's way," the man told Moeller. "I made the wrong decision, and I made that decision in duress."

Fremont County Prosecutor Karl Lewies requested Moeller impose 10 days in jail, which the defense attorney agreed with. But Moeller set the time in prison 110 days more than requested by the prosecution.

"Clearly, your daughter underwent great bodily harm based on some of your choices," Moeller told the girl's father.

The girl and the man lived together for four months. Officials said the girl miscarried and when she returned to Idaho, her mother filed for an annulment.

The 24-year-old in April was sentenced to 15 years in prison after pleading guilty to felony rape. He must serve three years before becoming eligible for parole.

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