Some of a child’s favorite persons can be their grandparents. Grandparents are a very attractive person to spend time with because they are a part of the family but are not as closely related as parents. One of the most revolting and horrific acts imaginable occurs when a grandparent exploits their tight bond with a youngster, as one 55-year-old Montana man did.
Mikeal Shane Pruett, 55, was detained in June of last year after his 11-year-old granddaughter fell pregnant. In August, she gave birth to the illegitimate child.
Pruett went through the legal process and was found accountable for these abhorrent actions. Since then, he has been given a 200-year prison term for both having an 11-year-old grandchild and sexually abusing her younger sister.
Pruett received a 100-year prison term for each incest charge.
“The only real question is how much should be suspended,” said Bill Fulbright, the county attorney for Ravalli. “In my opinion, he hasn’t established any boundaries when it comes to committing sexual offenses over the course of his life. A 100-year sentence has been imposed on the defendant for everything related to his life and behavior in Ravalli County.
Pruett was the victims’ legal guardian in addition to being their grandfather. He took advantage of their proximity to assault them and sexually prey on his 11-year-old granddaughter. He won’t be eligible for parole for the first time until he is 105 years old.
Pruett was a familiar name to the judge. Because of his long history of predatory sexual misconduct with really young females, he remembered seeing the man in the system. In addition to the fact that Pruett was a free man who had been given guardianship of two young children, the county was also aware of this.
The court acknowledged that Pruett readily raped the girls whenever he could and appears “to lack any kind of semblance of a conscience.”
Jeffrey Langton, the district judge for Ravalli County, realized that if Pruett were ever freed from prison, he would pose a danger to young girls. Additionally, it showed that the court had little faith in Pruett’s ability to change his ways due to his insatiable desire to young children.
Judge Langdon had ample proof that Pruett had a history of inappropriate behavior toward children and members of his family.
Pruett was recommended to receive 100 years in prison for each instance of incest by attorney Fulbright. The judge decided that sending Pruett to prison for this amount of time was the wisest course of action.
When Pruett’s granddaughter went to the doctor and found out she was 32 weeks pregnant, the truth about his heinous actions started to come to light. While he was their legal guardian, Pruett was abusing her and her sister, who is 9 years old.
The girl was taken for an interview with Emma’s House director Val Widmer shortly after the pregnancy of the girl was discovered. Widmer wanted to find out what had happened and who had victimized her.
When Pruett brought the young woman in for the interview, he sat in the waiting area as the victim described to Widmer the horrific details of her grandfather’s sexual assault.
However, in order to defend her grandfather, the daughter initially fabricated a lie to Widmer. She asserted that she had intercourse with a boy at the Ravalli County Fair. However, the fair was from the previous summer and could not account for the pregnancy. When Widmer visited the girl in August after she had given birth, she revealed to him the truth—that Pruett was the father.