Plea agreement suspends prison time
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A Polson man was given a 20-year prison term on Thursday, April 15, for raping a minor with all that time suspended. A plea agreement was reached Jan. 7 at District Court in Polson in front of Judge Deborah “Kim” Christopher.
Harlan Jay Gipe, 69, took the plea as part of an agreement that dismissed one felony count of sexual abuse of a minor and one count of felony sexual assault, and it forced Gipe to say he was guilty of sexual intercourse without consent. The plea also guarantees a conviction, and Gipe must register as a sex offender. He was also ordered to pay restitution of $36,000.
The sentence was part of a carefully negotiated plea agreement that was influenced by the consideration of the special magistrate. A special magistrate provides unbiased guidance to all the parties involved with the case in finding the most reasonable resolution.
Christopher said: “It is the first time in my career in which I have used a special magistrate in a criminal case.”
The victim, in this case, said this particular plea agreement “does not reflect justice; it reflects a compromise.” The presiding judge agreed, saying at sentencing “ … the victim’s wishes must bend to the proof the state has. He said/she said cases that occur in private spaces between people who hold themselves out as loving and safe make this kind of case particularly difficult.”
The plea agreement was still no consolation for the victim, whose impact statement was read by her therapist and mentor Ali Church, who sometimes paused to gather her own emotions as she read. The victim wanted Gipe to serve the 20-year sentence in the Montana State Prison. The victim’s statement referenced Gipe’s character stating: he “is not to be taken lightly; he is a pedophile, cunning and dangerous.” The victim also referenced how difficult it would be for a Native American female to go up against a white Christian male at trial.
Gipe is accused, in charging documents, of assaulting the victim while she was between the ages of 10 and 16. The victim told a forensic interpreter the incident occurred on numerous occasions between 2011 and 2017 at Gipe’s residence outside of Polson.
Jane Hammet is a registered nurse with the First Step program and sat in on the forensic interview. She described the victim during the two-and-half-hour interview as soft-spoken and providing great detail and crying at times. Hammet said the victim’s interview revealed years of abuse at the hands of Harlan Gipe.
The special magistrate, in this case, was Whitefish Attorney Caleb Simpson. Simpson has a private practice in Whitefish. He has held positions of both prosecutor and criminal defense. He also has served as a judge as well as represented victims of crimes. His task, in this case, was to review the victim’s medical history and consider what could be admissible in court while protecting the victim’s right to privacy.
Simpson testified to reviewing 2,777 pages of medical history obtained by subpoena by Gipe’s attorney Britt Cotter of Polson. Simpson summarized his findings in a four-page report. He concluded that there were issues with the victim’s credibility and that many issues would be admissible in court to further damage the prosecutor’s case had it gone to trial. There was no physical evidence for the state to rely on.
Both the state and defense stipulated about the use of Simpson’s assessment in lieu of assessments from medical experts listed in the medical records he reviewed. Cotter said it was only after they received Simpson’s findings that he and prosecutor Molly Owen, with the Lake County Attorney’s office, negotiated the plea agreement.
Christopher said, “In the world of foster care, that child comes to that foster parent because they have already been removed from a terrible situation, so their trust, safety and love have already been violated.”
She also referenced the results of Gipe’s sex offender evaluation conducted by Dr. Robert Page and said that it was determined that Gipe is a low-risk sexual offender and not a threat to the community. She also said: “I have a responsibility to follow the law, but I also have a case the attorneys believe will not result in a conviction.”
