A Butte man pleaded not guilty Wednesday to charges that he raped a 4-year-old when he was 17 and they were playing hide-and-seek near Whittier Elementary School last October.
Prosecutors charged Talon Redhawk Springer as an adult in November 2023 and after seven months of legal proceedings and consideration, District Judge Robert Whelan ruled last week that Springer will be tried as an adult.
Springer
He is charged with sexual intercourse without consent, or sexual assault in the alternative, but either is punishable by up to 100 years in prison.
Public defenders had asked Springer’s case be transferred to Youth Court, where proceedings are less formal and consequences of convictions are much less severe.
Whelan acknowledged that Springer was abandoned by his parents as an infant, was abused and neglected at a kinship home as a young child and had been placed in a series of foster homes, group homes and treatment facilities.
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But he denied the transfer request, saying the allegations are significant, Springer was only four months from turning 18 at the time and Youth Court proceedings would not serve “the interests of community protection.”
“The alleged facts of this case are extreme and of concern to the Court and therefore a District Court prosecution is appropriate,” Whelan said in his order. “The Defendant in this matter is alleged to have isolated a 4-year-old juvenile female and subjected her to sexual contact.”
Springer was sent to a juvenile corrections facility after his arrest but was transferred to the Butte jail when he turned 18 in January.
According to charging documents filed by prosecutor Ann Shea, the girl and several siblings were at the playground of Whitter School on Oct. 7 playing hide-and-seek and an older boy was with them.
At one point, according to a sibling, the boy asked the 4-year-old girl to go hide with him and the two went inside a plastic shed commonly used to store outdoor equipment.
The girl, soon afterward, told her mother that a boy took down her pants and then took down his own pants. In two subsequent forensic interviews, the girl provided more specifics, ultimately telling authorities the boy touched her genitals with his finger and his genitals and that it “hurt” her.
An older sister told police she opened the shed door and saw the older boy, later identified as Springer, up against the 4-year-old with her dress pulled up. He was clothed at that time, she said.
Springer was identified through a police investigation of another incident that occurred at the Butte YMCA earlier that day. A 10-year-old boy and his friend were in the YMCA pool and they told a mother the older boy was playing ball with them.
They said the older boy told them to meet him at Whittier School at 4:15 p.m. and asked for their phone numbers, but they didn’t give them out. The mother went by Whittier School at 4:15 p.m. and took a photo of the older boy, according to charging documents.
The mother said the boys were crying and upset all that night but they wouldn’t say anything more. Police checked with YMCA staff and found out Springer was there and he was later identified by photo as being at Whittier School.
Officers located Springer and during an interview, he said he was playing volleyball with the boys at the YMCA and there was a discussion about meeting them at Whittier. Nothing else happened, he said.
He acknowledged playing hide-and-seek with other kids at Whittier and hid with one girl but thought she was around 12 years old. When an officer said he had information Springer hid with a younger girl, Springer said that was possible but he didn’t remember.
Under Montana law, sexual intercourse without consent means penetration, however slight, of the vulva, anus or mouth by someone else’s body part or an instrument.
Sexual assault means touching another person’s intimate parts to degrade, harass or for sexual arousal.
Springer appeared for Wednesday’s arraignment via video from the Butte jail with public defender Kaylee Hafer by his side. His bail is set at $50,000 but Hafer asked that a hearing be set to possibly reduce that.
If you or someone you know are a victim of sexual violence, RAINN (Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network) is available to help. Call the National Sexual Assault Hotline at 800-656-4673 or chat online at online.rainn.org. RAINN is the nation’s largest anti-sexual violence organization, working in partnership with more than 1,000 local service providers.
Mike Smith is a reporter at the Montana Standard with an emphasis on government and politics.
