The mother of a US teenage rape victim says a judge is "just covering his butt" after he apologised for saying that her 14-year-old daughter who eventually killed herself was "older than her chronological age".
Auliea Hanlon says District Judge G Todd Baugh's apology was "irrelevant" because he has stood by the 30-day prison sentence given to rapist and former teacher Stacey Rambold.
Her daughter, Cherice Moralez, killed herself before Rambold's case came to trial.
Hanlon rejected the judge's apology on Thursday as she spoke to an Associated Press reporter during a rally for Baugh's resignation.
The rally packed the Yellowstone County Courthouse lawn with hundreds of people, many carrying signs such as "Justice for Cherice" and "14 is 14".
On Wednesday, Baugh said he "deserved to be chastised" for his comments about the victim, who he had said was "older than her chronological age" and had as much control of the situation as the high school teacher who was in a sexual relationship with her.
Baugh said he stood by his decision on Monday to sentence 54-year-old Rambold to 30 days in jail - 15 years in prison, with all of but 31 days of that term suspended. He gave Rambold credit for one day already served.
"She wasn't even old enough to get a driver's license. But Judge Baugh, who never met our daughter, justified the paltry sentence saying she was older than her chronological age," Hanlon said in a statement to the Gazette after the sentencing. "I guess somehow it makes a rape more acceptable if you blame the victim, even if she was only 14."
Baugh, 71, wrote an apology on Wednesday in a letter to the editor to The Billings Gazette. He said his comments were demeaning of all women and not reflective of his beliefs.
The judge later told reporters he was "fumbling around" in court trying to explain his sentence and "made some really stupid remarks".
