Man Is Sentenced To 42yrs In Prison For The Kidnap And Rape Of A Four-Year-Old Girl That Left Her With An Incurable STD
John William Lieba II has been sentenced to 42-years in prison for chasing down a young girl at night in a park, raping and strangling her and then leaving her for dead in an abandoned pickup truck in February 2016.
John, from Montana, was convicted on counts of kidnapping a minor, aggravated sexual abuse and assault resulting in serious bodily injury on a minor. He was sentenced on Wednesday in U.S. District Court in Great Falls. Judge Brian Morris sentenced Lieba to 500 months in prison on each count, to be served concurrently.
Lieba II chased down the 4-year-old girl at night in the Fort Peck Indian Reservation. After his attack on her, he dumped her and she wasn't found for two days. A sheriff's deputy found her when he noticed her shoeless footprints in a patch of mud behind a fertilizer plant. She was seen lying dehydrated and cold on a makeshift bed in the cab of an old pickup truck.
Wounds and burst blood vessels on her head and neck indicated John had tried to strangle her. The sickening attack left the child with an incurable sexually transmitted disease.
"The child will forever be reminded of this trauma," Assistant US 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."
During Lieba's trial, a 12-year-old neighbor of the victim testified that she also had been chased by Lieba at a playground in the town of Wolf Point at around 9.30pm on the night the toddler went missing, but she managed to escape.
Lieba's attorneys said he had stopped taking his anti-psychotic medication prior to the kidnapping and could not remember the events of that night. When he was initially questioned by police after his arrest, Lieba said he had no idea where the victim was, and when asked if she was dead, he replied, "probably". He also told the detectives to "go get the body."
Defense attorneys requested 30 years in prison for Lieba, noting that he'll be approaching middle age by the time he's released. They said the best thing will be for him to address his mental health issues.
"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.
