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Man sentenced for lewd conduct

by Ralph Bartholdt Staff Writer
| February 27, 2018 12:00 AM

COEUR d’ALENE — Sentencing recommendations by attorneys Monday in the case of a Hayden man who had a sexual relationship with a teenage girl ranged from probation to 40 years behind bars.

The wide discrepancy was indicative of the heinousness of the crime and the results of a pschosexual evaluation that showed Christian B. Millbach was at low risk to reoffend and that the 42-year-old, who had no prior criminal record, was amenable to treatment.

First District Judge Scott Wayman said he weighed the reports and recommendations before sentencing Millbach Monday morning to up to 20 years behind bars for pleading guilty to one count of lewd conduct with a minor.

Kootenai County prosecutors said Millbach put himself into situations that assured he was alone with a 14-year-old girl with whom he had a three-year sexual relationship that began with fondling and ended with “basically having done everything up to having full-on intercourse,” deputy prosecutor Laura McClinton said.

Millbach initially denied he was having sex with the girl. He referred to it instead as providing the child with a sexual education, until he admitted wrongdoing to a psychiatrist.

Despite the admission, psychiatrists said Millbach, who has no criminal record, was a good candidate for treatment and unlikely to reoffend.

By pleading guilty, McClinton said, the defendant finally conceded to wrongdoing.

McClinton questioned Millbach’s earlier denials, but deputy public defender Chris Schwartz said his client had been inwardly repentant.

“He was ashamed of his actions,” Schwartz said.

The guilty plea proved Millbach bore responsibility.

“He came here today and was up front about it,” Schwartz said.

Schwartz upbraided prosecutors’ sentencing recommendation.

“That’s a larger sentence than people get for murder,” he said.

McClinton iterated Millbach purposefully groomed the teen for sex, by creating a situation where he was assured unfettered access to the girl away from the purview of other adults.

Wayman’s five-year fixed sentence means Millbach will remain in prison for five years although he will get credit for the time he served in jail since his arrest in May when he was indicted by a grand jury for the charges going back to 2015. After serving his five-year sentence he could serve up to 15 more years behind bars depending on the discretion of the Idaho Department of Correction.