Sex felon's sentence revoked with DUI No. 4

The 10-year suspended sentence for a 50-year-old Columbia Falls man who pleaded guilty to sexually assaulting a 13-year-old girl in 2008 has been revoked.

Flathead County District Court Judge Heidi Ulbricht revoked James Whitaker’s sentence after he was arrested and charged with DUI No. 4, a felony, last year. A sentencing hearing is scheduled for June 13.

According to court documents, the girl’s mother reported the incident to the sheriff’s office on Aug. 25, 2008. The girl told a detective Whitaker kissed and fondled her and then pushed her toward her bedroom.

Once inside the bedroom, the girl said, Whitaker took off his shorts and fell on her bed. What Whitaker and the girl didn’t know was that the girl’s mother was already in the girl’s bed. The mother told detectives she sat upright and saw Whitaker lying naked in bed next to her daughter.

Following a March 2011 plea agreement with the county attorney’s office, Flathead County District Court Judge Stewart Stadler sentenced Whitaker to 10 years all suspended, a $1,000 fine, $800 in public defender fees and a $160 surcharge. He was also designated a Level 1 sex offender. No restitution was ordered.

Whitaker, formerly of Hungry Horse, was charged with DUI No. 2 in October 2009 after he allegedly hit two parked cars while driving through Columbia Falls at a high rate of speed. He also was charged with driving without a valid license and leaving the scene of an accident.

His fourth DUI charge came on July 26, 2012, after a sheriff’s deputy saw Whitaker enter Mike’s Conoco in Columbia Falls around 11 p.m. Whitaker allegedly stumbled, smelled of alcohol and had difficulty purchasing two six-packs of beer.

Outside the store, Whitaker allegedly chugged down one of the beers while the deputy was running his ID through the computer. Whitaker allegedly failed a field sobriety test and blew a 0.351 BAC, more than four times the legal limit. He also was driving someone else’s vehicle without permission.

Whitaker signed a plea agreement on April 25 which combines the penalties of the revoked sexual assault sentence and the felony DUI sentence. The plea agreement calls for a net sentence of 16 years and one month with the Department of Corrections, with 11 years suspended, a residential alcohol program and the Watch program.