Plea deal in Polebridge sex case vacated; Ramon speaks in public

A legal technicality has apparently vacated a plea agreement for a 55-year-old Polebridge man charged with sexually abusing a girl who was 8-10 years old at the time.

On top of that, defendant Ted Ramon presented a statement in his defense to a group of North Fork residents on Aug. 18 that didn’t satisfy some of the listeners. Ramon handed out copies of his statement, and one ended up in court records.

Ramon faces up to 100 years in prison and a $10,000 fine if convicted of any of three initial charges of felony sexual abuse of children. He would not be eligible for parole for at least 25 years.

Under a May 17 plea agreement, the county attorney’s office recommended dismissing two of the charges and giving Ramon a 15-year prison sentence, all suspended, if he pleaded nolo contendre to the single remaining sexual abuse charge.

Flathead County District Court Judge Robert Allison accepted the plea agreement and dismissed the two counts against Ramon during a change of plea hearing on June 27. That set up a sentencing hearing on Aug. 29.

But in an order issued on Aug. 23, Allison informed defense attorney Jack Quatman and prosecutor Travis Ahner that state statute prohibits the court from accepting a nolo contendre plea to certain charges. Ramon was not allowed to plead no contest to felony sexual abuse. Allison then vacated both the plea agreement and the Aug. 29 sentencing hearing.

According to a 2011 affidavit, the sexual abuse incidents occurred between June 1, 2009, and July 18, 2011. The young girl told detectives that Ramon showed her pornographic magazines and videos, talked to her about sexual acts, offered her cigars, alcohol and drugs, and told her not to tell anyone about what had happened between them or else he would go to jail.

When interviewed by a detective, Ramon allegedly admitted to taking photos of the young girl with her pants down and explaining sexual activities to her. Ramon allegedly called one of the interviewing detectives later and said he was angry the girl had not been arrested and charged for her role in the incidents. He allegedly said that if the girl had not come on to him, the incidents would never have happened.

Protesters stood outside the Flathead County Justice Center during two of Ramon’s hearings carrying signs demanding justice for the young girl. Signs read “Jail for Ted Ramon” and “Real men protect children.”

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On Aug. 18, Ramon read a three-page statement titled “In My Defense” to about 30 people gathered in Sondreson Community Hall, on the North Fork Road north of Polebridge.The hall was being used for church services at the time.

He began by noting that it bothered him that people in the North Fork were avoiding him and not looking him in the eye, and he wanted people to know his side of the story. He started by describing how he and his wife and their three high school-aged children moved to his family’s homestead in the North Fork in 1995, where he continued his work as an artist.

Ramon said he’s “always been a kind person.” He said he was a Boy Scout and was raised to respect women. He also said he “practiced Margaret Mead’s motto of random acts of kindness and senseless beauty.”

Then, he said, a family moved onto his property about three years ago. Ramon said the family’s two young children filled a void left with his own grandchildren living so far away. But, he claimed, the children’s parents had angry arguments and left their children with the blame for their stormy relationship.

Ramon said the young girl he is charged with sexually assaulting was “very intelligent beyond her years,” and he taught her the basics of art and photography. At the same time, he claimed, “she was also very curious, precocious and sometimes devious.”

Ramon said he was frank with the young girl at times, and “this got her in trouble with me on a few occasions, as her questions would be well beyond the scope of what I should be required to answer.” This was particularly a problem when the questions involved sex, he said.

Ramon said he spoke to the mother about this matter and claims the stepfather would then get angry and blame the young girl for destroying their marriage. “So I did not always tell her parents of her misbehavior as I feared for her safety,” Ramon said.

On one occasion, Ramon said, the young girl “over stepped the line too far and I had to have a word with her mother on her overt sexual action.” Ramon said his wife also spoke with the young girl’s mother.

Then, as the busy summer tourist season occupied the adults in 2011, a classmate of the young girl showed up to stay for a while. “The two of them together were almost unbearably rude and unmanageable,” Ramon claimed. The two girls broke into his office, Ramon claimed, and found things that they showed to the young girl’s stepfather. That’s when the young girl’s mother went to the police. Ramon said she should have come to him instead.

“The county attorney’s office and the media have taken my statements and twisted them into painting me a monster,” Ramon said. “I am a good man, I am not that monster. At no time was it my intention to seduce, corrupt or exploit that young lady or any child ever.”

A letter accompanying Ramon’s statement in the court records is signed “Concerned North Fork Citizens.” The letter writers claimed that by his statement, Ramon was denying any wrongdoing, which was in violation of the conditions of his plea agreement. “The court may wish to review, modify or reject the plea agreement,” the letter writers said.

A pretrial hearing for Ramon is scheduled for Dec. 18.

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The Ramon case is not the only sex case involving a child that has drawn public criticism of late. A former Billings Senior High School teacher’s 30-day sentence for raping a 14-year-old girl in 2007 has prompted calls for the resignation of Yellowstone County District Court Judge G. Todd Baugh.

Baugh said the girl, who committed suicide before teacher Stacey Rambold was taken to trial, was “older than her chronological age.” Billings school superintendent Terry Bouck called Rambold’s actions “repugnant,” and the girl’s mother rejected Baugh’s apology.

Prosecutors originally asked for a 20-year sentence. Baugh gave Rambold a 15-year sentence with all but 31 days suspended and credit for one day served.

Prosecutors on Aug. 29 said Baugh may have erred by giving Rambold only 30 days. A legal review of Rambold’s sentence suggests that Baugh applied the wrong section of state law, and that Rambold should have received a minimum of two years.

On Sept. 3, Baugh said in court that state law appears to require a two-year mandatory minimum prison sentence for Rambold, and that in his opinion, “imposing a sentence which suspends more than the mandatory minimum would be an illegal sentence.”