Man Sentenced To 42 Years 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.