Butte man sentenced to 40 years for rape

District Judge Robert Whelan also ordered that 48-year-old Jay Dee Davisson will not be eligible for parole for at least the first 20 years and must be transferred to Deer Lodge Prison within 10 days.

A jury convicted Davisson of sexual intercourse without consent after a three-day trial in January 2023. The rape occurred in August 2020, so prosecutor Kelli Fivey said Wednesday the victim had waited nearly four years for justice.

The victim testified in court that Davisson picked her and a 19-year-old friend up on a street in Butte around 1 a.m. and gave her whiskey. She said the next thing she remembered was waking up alone in a room at the Red Lion Hotel in Rocker at 1 p.m. the next day.

She said she was wearing a shirt that wasn’t hers, no pants or underwear, and Davisson left her a note, a toothbrush and $30 for a taxi. Hours later, she was taken to St. James Healthcare where a rape examination was performed.

To protect potential victims of sexual assault, the Montana Standard is not naming the victim.

Davisson appeared for the hearing via video from the Butte jail on Wednesday, but declined to speak when Whelan gave him the opportunity.

During the trial, prosecutors played video footage from the hotel showing Davisson arriving at the parking lot in the early morning hours, walking around for a few minutes, leaving and returning about an hour later.

They also presented a still photograph showing Davisson carrying the victim into the hotel. She was in an apparent limp state, wearing only trousers, her stomach was exposed and she had a T-shirt pulled over her head, obscuring her face.

Fivey reminded Whelan of that evidence on Wednesday and talked about how the victim felt when she woke up alone and without a cellphone as a 15-year-old girl.

“She was confused, disoriented, her body ached in places we don’t want to talk about,” Fivey said. “She was alone and had no memory of the night before.”

Fivey said the victim’s grades plummeted after the rape, her attendance in high school declined and she felt isolated and disgusted with herself.

Fivey said she had now graduated from high school and was working, but she had recently lost her father and was having a hard time grieving because of what happened four years ago.

She asked Whelan to sentence Davisson to 60 years in prison, with 20 years suspended, but no parole for the first 20 years.

Attorney Jack Morris defended Davisson in court and said his client believed the victim was older than 16.

After the trial, attorney Suzanne Marshall Malloy took over the defense and asked Whelan at the sentencing on Wednesday to impose a 10-year prison sentence with five years probation.

Davisson was convicted in 2003, she said, but remained law-abiding for years afterward and could do so again under supervision. The sentence she is asking for would allow her client to receive sex offender treatment and return him to society.

But Whelan backed away from that, saying the video he saw during the trial showed predatory behavior.

“This is unacceptable behavior, regardless of how old the victim was,” he said. “The only thing I’m really considering here is whether or not part of the sentence should be suspended.”

However, he agreed to the prosecutor’s request and imposed a 60-year prison sentence with 20 years suspended. Ann Shea assisted Fivey in the prosecution.

The victim was in the courtroom on Wednesday and spoke briefly with Fivey after the hearing, crying quietly.

(If you or someone you know is 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 and works with more than 1,000 local service providers.)