A Flathead County man will spend the next 50 years in prison for sexually assaulting a 5-year-old girl.
Justin George Jones, 40, was sentenced in Flathead County District Court on July 16, nearly a year after he raped his girlfriend’s granddaughter. Jones was previously convicted of felony sexual assault and was serving a 10-year suspended sentence.
According to court documents, Jones raped the 5-year-old girl on Aug. 16, 2014. Soon after the incident, the victim told her mother who called the police and confronted Jones about the allegation. Jones initially denied having sex with the girl but later admitted to the crime. He told investigators that he was “fighting a deviant cycle.” According to testimony in court, Jones has had a history of sexually assaulting children since he was a teenager and has undergone treatment for this in the past.
Jones was initially charged with sexual intercourse without consent in October 2014. In January, he signed a plea deal where he would plead guilty to sexual assault instead of intercourse without consent.
During the July 16 sentencing, the court heard testimony from the victim’s mother and Jones’ sister.
“Justin, I love you because you’re my brother but you have hurt so many people,” the woman said. “So many people are in agony because of you.”
“This community will be safer with you in jail.”
Following the testimony, District Court Judge Robert Allison handed down a 50-year sentence to the Montana State Prison; 10 years for the 2004 offense and 40 years for the 2014 incident. As part of the sentence, Jones will not be eligible for parole for at least 25 years.
If he did qualify for parole at that time, Jones would be 65-years old. Allison said he hoped the sentence would “break the cycle” of assaults that Jones has committed and would protect the community. As part of sentencing, Jones was also designated as a Tier-2 sex offender, meaning the risk of a repeat sexual offense is moderate.
Another stipulation of Jones’ sentence is that be given hormone-suppression drugs before he is ever released from prison. Montana became the second state in the nation to approve the use of “chemical castration” in 1997. The drug is administered a week before the prisoner is released and reduces the subject’s sex drive.