Douglas Guill nets 50-year sentence in sex abuse case

THOMPSON FALLS, Mont. - A Heron man convicted of raping his daughter repeatedly over a 14-year period was sentenced Tuesday to 50 years in the Montana State Prison.

Douglas Guill, 56, reportedly told the girl that he was God and could send her to hell. The abuse began when the victim was 6 years old, culminating in three-way sexual intercourse with her father and stepmother.

 After a three-hour hearing, Sanders County Judge Deborah Kim Christopher sentenced Guill to 50 years for each of the five felonies he had been convicted of at his March trial. A jury said Guill was guilty of two counts of sexual intercourse without consent, two counts of incest and one count of sexual abuse.

 At the sentencing hearing, Guill was also designated a Level 3 sex offender - the highest possible level. A doctor testified at the hearing that Guill was at a "high-risk to re-offend" if released. Guill is not eligible for parole and will have to reimburse Sanders County for the cost of his trial as well as pay for his daughter's counseling.

 During what may have been the longest trial in Sanders County history, the 23-year-old victim said she had been a virtual prisoner in her house. She and her brother, Jacob, were home-schooled and worked at their father's air conditioning business without being paid.

 She was 6 years old when her father starting touching her and 8 years old when he started having sex with her.

 Though the victim didn't testify at the sentencing hearing, she was present with her mother, Candace Guill.

 Jacob Guill, now 22, took the stand and spoke about how his father's crimes destroyed the family.

 "It has affected us in every aspect," Jacob Guill said. "In my relationship with my sister and mom. We weren't able to have a normal relationship. He's just done a lot of damage to her and it is difficult for any of us to be able to live our lives fully now."

 Jacob Guill went on to say that he wanted his father to be locked up for life.

 "If he ever got out he would hurt her and he would hurt me and my mom," Jacob said. "We'd live in fear if he was out and we'd have to go into hiding."

 In a 13-page written sentencing statement, Douglas Guill denied the charges and said he was "not a violent man."

 "I deny that I was ever sexually inappropriate with my daughter… The statements made in that affidavit that was filed by the county attorney are not true, or unreliable hearsay, or both," he wrote. "As I testified under oath, I have been wrongfully convicted. I believe that I did not get a fair trial."

 Guill also denied being a threat to his daughter.

 "[She], has nothing to fear from me," he wrote. "She knows this. I admit that I was devastated by what she said about me. I can only believe that she must have a reason for doing so. I have assumed that her mother has told her some horrible thing or things about me that have never been disclosed and, therefore, I've never been able to deny or refute… While I view Candace as the force behind these false allegations, she does not have anything to fear from me either."

 Guill originally asked the court for a sentence of 20 years or less. Otherwise, he wrote, he expected to die in prison.

 Sanders County Attorney Coleen Magera released a statement saying she and Dan Guzynski of the Montana Attorney General's Office, who assisted her with the case, were "very pleased" with the sentencing.

 The victim's stepmother, Nicole Guill, is awaiting sentencing on related charges. Michael Sherwood, Guill's attorney, declined to comment while the case is ongoing.