Two inmates at Montana State Prison have been charged with the kidnap and attempted rape of a correctional officer in the prison’s high security unit in June.
Michael Spell and Bradley Crisman are both charged with aggravated kidnapping and attempted aggravated sexual intercourse without consent in Powell County District Court. Neither have entered pleas to the charges, but are expected to do so at their initial appearances Aug. 27.
The Electric, an online news site in Great Falls, first reported on the charges.
Crisman had already been imprisoned in 2012 on a 75-year sentence for sexually assaulting a real estate agent in Great Falls while posing as a potential home buyer. Spell is one of the two oil field workers involved in the highly-publicized kidnapping and murder of Sidney teacher Sherry Arnold when she was jogging near her home in 2012. Spell was sentenced to 100 years in prison for his role in that case.
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According to charging documents, Crisman, 35, regularly spoke to other inmates about kidnapping and torturing women while working in the prison’s kitchen on the high-security housing side of the facility. Other inmates later told investigators Crisman had specifically spoken about a female correctional officer on their unit.
Seaborn Larson has worked for the Montana State News Bureau since 2020. His past work includes local crime and courts reporting at the Missoulian and Great Falls Tribune, and daily news reporting at the Daily Inter Lake in Kalispell.