Columbia Falls Man Who Sexually Assaulted Two Minors Receives Deferred Prosecution
Ronald Braxton Dougherty will not serve jail time if he completes a sexual offender treatment program and remains law abiding for the next six years
By Maggie Dresser
A 20-year-old Columbia Falls man who sexually assaulted a cognitively impaired girl in 2019 and a 6-year-old boy in 2018 received a six-year deferred prosecution this week after pleading guilty to two felony counts of criminal endangerment.
Ronald Braxton Dougherty entered a plea deal in October to amended charges of criminal endangerment after he was initially charged with sexual intercourse without consent in March 2020. In addition to reducing those charges, the deferred prosecution requires that he complete sexual offender treatment and avoid contact with individuals under the age of 18. He must complete the six-year probationary period on each charge, which are to run concurrent, before the case is adjudicated.
Judge Amy Eddy presided over the sentencing hearing on Nov. 10 in Flathead County District Court.
Dougherty’s attorney, William Managhan, was concerned his client would be unable to pay for the sexual offender treatment, citing mental health issues and his lack of a high school degree.
“He deals with various mental issues that make employment and being in a school very difficult,” Managhan said.
During the sentencing hearing, Dougherty assured Judge Eddy he would abide by the plea deal and mentioned he was in the process of acquiring new medication to help with his mental health issues.
“As long as I keep walking the straight and narrow, I am 100% certain we will have no further problems in any case at all,” Dougherty said.
Judge Eddy cited Dougherty’s unstable mental health condition at a hearing in September.
In March 2020, Dougherty, who was 18 at the time, was accused of raping a 16-year-old girl with a “genetic condition causing a range of developmental disabilities and cognitive impairment” and charged with sexual intercourse without consent, later amended to criminal endangerment, according to court documents. The incident occurred between October and November of 2019.
Dougherty pleaded guilty to an amended charge of criminal endangerment on June 18, 2021.
In spring of 2019, Dougherty convinced his cousin, a 6-year-old boy, that performing CPR involved sexual contact, then initiated that contact in the late summer or early fall of 2018. The assault was reported to the Child and Family Services Division of the Montana Department of Public Health and Human Services in the spring of 2019. He was 17 years old at the time.
Dougherty pleaded guilty to an amended charge of criminal endangerment on Oct. 14, 2021.