Here's some earlier coverage about that rape case; the pertinent case discussed is the first one:
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Lake County Leader ·
(Polson, Montana)Courts address three rape cases, one sexual assault Posted: Thursday, October 14, 2004 12:00 am | Updated: 1:57 pm, Thu Feb 18, 2010.
By Maggie Plummer · of the LeaderPOLSON - District Judges C. B. McNeil and D. K. Christopher processed a total of 60 District Court cases last week, playing catch-up from some recent weeks when court sessions were not held.
Among those cases were three rape cases and a multiple sexual assault case involving a Polson man who had allegedly failed to register as a sex offender.
James Stanley Barnes, the 25-year-old Dixon man accused of having sex with two of his 15-year-old female students at the Pinehaven Christian School in St. Ignatius, changed his plea to guilty last Wednesday.
In a plea agreement, he pleaded guilty to two counts of felony sexual intercourse without consent.
Two felony counts of sexual assault are being dismissed, under the terms of the plea bargain.
His sentencing is set for Dec. 1.
According to court files, the defendant allegedly had sex with the two female victims on several occasions between October 2003 and May 2004.
The two teenage victims lived at the school. One of them is from Washington and the other is from Montana.
Barnes' plea agreement recommends that he be sentenced to 15 years in Montana State Prison.
For each felony count, the plea bargain calls for 35 years with 20 years suspended, with the sentences for each count to run concurrently.
The maximum penalty for two counts of felony sexual intercourse without consent is life in prison.
John Thomas Bigcrane, 28, of Ronan was sentenced to 20 years in the state prison for felony sexual intercourse without consent.
According to court files, during February 2003 the defendant allegedly had intercourse with a 15-year-old victim.
In sentencing Bigcrane, Judge McNeil specified that he will not be eligible for parole until he has completed three phases of the prison's sex offender treatment program.
Bigcrane must also pay $55 in court surcharges and a $100 public defender fee.
Scott Reum, 30, of Polson changed his plea to guilty of failing to register as a sex offender and three counts of felony sexual assault.
He is due to be sentenced Nov. 10.
According to a court affidavit, Reum was convicted of felony sexual assault in April 1993. After two probation violations, the defendant was sent to Montana State Prison in June 2000, and released on July 24, 2002.
He was last registered as a sex offender in the City of Kalispell on Dec. 19, 2002, court records state.
According to the court file, Reum moved back to Lake County in early 2003. According to police, he lived here for about a month and a half and had not registered himself as required by law.
Then, the court file states, a school counselor told county detectives that a five-year-old girl had approached the counselor with concerns about the defendant. The affidavit states that Reum admitted to police that he'd not registered here as a sex offender, and that on three occasions during March 2003 he had touched the girl in a sexual way.
Byron Alexander Johnson, 21, of Dayton pleaded not guilty to felony sexual intercourse without consent and was released on $3,000 bond.
According to the court file, Johnson allegedly had sex with a 13-year-old girl. The affidavit also says that the girl told the defendant that she was 17 years old.
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