Bradley Crisman was sentenced July 26 on felony counts of aggravated kidnapping and attempted aggravated sexual intercourse without consent from a June 2024 incident in which he and another Montana State Prison inmate pushed a corrections officer into a cell while she was doing door checks and attempting to rape her.

Crisman was sentenced to 75 years in 2012 for assaulting a real estate agent during a 2011 Great Falls house showing. He was a 21-year-old airman assigned to Malmstrom Air Force Base at the time.

Michael Spell was also charged with the same counts and his criminal case is pending.

Spell was sentenced to 100 years in 2014 for the 2012 kidnaping and murder of Sidney school teacher Sherry Arnold. His defense argued that he was mentally disabled and needed treatment. They also argued that his co-defendant had hatched the plan and coerced Spell into the attempted kidnapping that resulted in the teacher’s death.

In 2016, Spell and another inmate attempted to kill a third inmate in the state prison.

Both cases are out of Powell County, where the state prison is located.

Two state prison inmates, one from Great Falls, charged for assaulting correctional officer [2024]

On Friday, Crisman was sentenced in the 2024 assault to:

• 100 years on the count of aggravated kidnapping, to be served consecutive to his underlying 2012 sentence, and he’s not parole eligible for the first 50 years of that sentence, contingent on completing a sex offender treatment program
• 100 years on the county of attempted rape, consecutive to the underlying sentence and concurrent to count one, with a 50 year parole restriction

He is also required to register as a Level 3 sex offender.

During the sentencing hearing, Department of Corrections investigator Patrick Kruse testified about the June 2024 incident at the prison.

McDowell sentenced to life in prison for sexual assault, incest

He was the investigator on the case and said there was video evidence of the incident from two different cameras in the day room.

In searching Criman’s property, Kruse said he found a journal of “horrific” fantasies and stories.

The incident has affected the prison staff, which is a “small family of officers and staff,” he said. “Incidents like this don’t happen very often. When incidents like this occur, impacts them greatly.”

The June 2024 incident was different, Kruse said, because Crisman and Spell had singled out a female officer.

Crisman’s defense attorney argued that the journal had been with his property, but not in his cell, and he hadn’t seen it in about seven years as it was from his time in Shelby prison.

Crisman said he was on “spice,” a synthetic cannabinoid, at the time of the incident.

Amato sentenced in sex trafficking case

Kruse testified that drug use is prohibited in the prison, but the drug trade is a “humongous” problem in jails and prisons.

The victim of Crisman’s 2011 assault in Great Falls testified during the July 26 sentencing hearing, asking the judge not to allow him parole.

She said her husband received a call about the 2024 prison assault and told her of the incident.

Finding out, “makes it all come back again,” she said, fighting tears as she testified. “It’s like it happened yesterday.”

She said that in the years since the assault and Crisman’s first conviction, “we relive it continually. There’s things that happen that make you think of it daily.”

When it happened in 2011, she said that her husband had their daughter with him when he came to the site of the incident.

She and her daughter now suffer from anxiety and find it difficult to trust people.

“It has affected us and our daily life and the way we socialize now,” she said.

Tome reaches plea agreement in 2016 rape case; released, designated Tier 3 sex offender [2024]

Before the incident, she testified that she had no reservations about strangers or men, but now takes a lot of caution.

During the July 25 hearing, she said she’d reread her victim impact statement from the 2012 criminal proceedings, something she said she hadn’t looked at in 13 years.

“A lot of those feelings are exactly the same and it’s really sad after 13 years they’re the same,” she said.

The corrections officer who was the victim of Crisman and Spell’s attack in June 2024 read a victim impact statement during the July 25 hearing.

She said that after being pulled into the cell by the inmates, Crisman told her he’d shank her if she wasn’t quiet.

“The actions of Mr. Crisman has greatly affected my life,” she said.

She can’t sleep, “I’m afraid and untrusting of others,” suffering from post traumatic stress, flashbacks, intrusive memories, hypervigilance and anxiety.

Laverdure convicted of rape, incest sexual assault [2024]

It’s had a financial impact as she was off work for six months and has medical bills that workers compensation wouldn’t cover for lower back injuries sustained in the attack.

The struggle to overcome this horrendous act of violence will forever affect my life,” she said.

She asked the judge to consider Crisman’s patterns of unsafe behavior and not allow him to gain parole eligibility.

Patrick Moody, the prosecutor, said that a pre-sentence investigation completed in the current case was “eerily similar,” to the investigation conducted in his underlying case.

“In one of the most restrictive and safe places Mr. Crisman could be housed,” Moody said, Crisman was “stewing on his fantasies,” and found a way to feed his impulses.

The corrections officer in the 2024 assault fought through the incident and was able to subdue Crisman before other officers arrived to help, Moody said.

“She fought for her life and she’s still doing so today,” Moody said. “Her efforts, her heroism stopped this from becoming much darker.”

Crisman’s writings of his fantasies and stories are “horrendous,” Moody said, and even if the journal found his property at the prison was older, it was consistent with the actions he took in 2024.

McLaurin sentenced to 100 years for sexually assaulting toddler [2024]

Crisman was designated a Level 2 sex offended in 2013 and has since graduated to Level 3, Moody said, as he’s “fixated on the exact demons that have been driving him the entire time.”

Jessica Polan Wright, Crisman’s defense attorney, said they understand the seriousness of the case and the deeply traumatic impact to the victims. She said she wasn’t going to minimize that, but to offer context.

She said that Crisman’s conduct was “terrifying.”

She said he grew up in a chaotic household and was abused by his father and stepfather.

At the time of the prison incident, he was on spice, which wasn’t an excuse, she said, but explained his loss of control.

His psychosexual evaluation deemed him a high risk and recommended treatment. Polan Wright said that should be in a prison program.

She asked for a 30 year sentence for year charge, concurrent, with no parole restriction, but to be served in a secure unit with mandatory sex offender and substance abuse treatment.

Making a statement to the court, Crisman said, “I’m sorry. My actions that day were uncalled for. I’m very sorry that this happened. I really am. We’re here because of my stupid actions.”

Sex abuse charges against former GFPS teacher knocked down in plea agreement [2024]

He said he wouldn’t have done it if he hadn’t been under the influence of drugs and his actions were reckless.

Criman said to the victim that he hopes she’ll forgive him, but understands if she doesn’t.

Judge Jeffrey Dahood said to Crisman that “this is a horrendous case.”

It was “chilling” watching the videos of the incident and Dahood said he was sure that wasn’t easy for anyone in the courtroom.

Dahood said he’d reviewed the pre-sentence investigations from 2012 and the current case and didn’t see a lot of difference.

He said that while incarcerated, he’d become a higher level sex offender and “that’s extremely concerning.”

Dahood said that he agreed with the prosecution in that if that happened while Crisman was in a controlled environment, “what’s gonna happen if you’re outside those walls.”

Dahood said that Crisman had a chance to rehabilitate and that hasn’t yet happened.

Former Malmstrom airman sentenced for obtaining, selling child sexual abuse material [2024]

He said he understands Crisman saying the 2024 incident wouldn’t have happened if he hadn’t been on spice, but “we don’t know that because you were and that was your choice and that is no defense.”

After issuing his sentence, Dahood said to Crisman that he hopes it gives him the opportunity to get the help “you absolutely desperately need.”

From The Electric’s July 2024 story:

Two Montana State Prison inmates have been charged for holding a female corrections officer in a cell and attempting to rape her.

Bradley Crisman and Michael Spell are charged with felony counts of aggravated kidnaping and attempted aggravated sexual intercourse without consent, according to documents filed in Powell County, where the state prison is located.

The pair are accused of pushing a corrections officer into a cell while she was doing door checks and attempting to rape her on June 8.

Crisman was sentenced to 75 years in 2012 for assaulting a real estate agent during a 2011 Great Falls house showing.

Spell was sentenced to 100 years in 2014 for the 2012 kidnaping and murder of Sidney school teacher Sherry Arnold. His defense argued that he was mentally disabled and needed treatment. They also argued that his co-defendant had hatched the plan and coerced Spell into the attempted kidnapping that resulted in the teacher’s death.

In 2016, Spell and another inmate attempted to kill a third inmate in the state prison.

Prison video from the day of the incident shows the day room with a limited view of inmate cells.

The video showed the victim and another correctional officer checking doors, which is done as inmates leave the block for dinner, according to court documents.

At about 4:40 p.m., inmates from the block leave for dinner, but some stay behind and Crisman is shown standing outside his cell door watching the corrections officers and Spell.

Spell is seen on the video going back into his cell as most inmates leave for dinner, grabbing an object and using it to get the victim’s attention. As she walks toward Spell, he’s seen grabbing her by the waist and dragging her into his cell, at the same time Crisman is shown walking toward her then running to push her from behind as Spell grabbed her, with the cell door closing after them, according to court documents.

Prosecutors allege that the two pre-planned the kidnapping.

The video shows the correctional officer who had been doing door checks with the victim chasing the inmates to the cell and attempting to force the door open, but being prevented from doing so by unseen resistance, calling for help and pulling out his pepper spray, according to court documents. Other prison staff appear to assist him and the victim.

The video shows Spell’s cell door opening and Spell exiting quickly, swinging at the correctional officer, but being hit with pepper spray and other officer physically subduing him.

Officers still struggled to open the cell door, but after the victim was in the cell for more than a minute, were able to open the door and get her out. Both the victim and Crisman appear to be suffering from pepper spray in the video, according to court documents.

The correctional officer who was with the victim just prior to the incident was interviewed a few days later and wrote an incident statement indicating that after the inmates took the victim into the cell, he called for help, ran to the cell and looked inside to see Crisman wrestling with the victim on the floor as Crisman was attempting to get her handcuffs, pull off her duty belt and her pants down, according to court documents.

The correctional officer stated that Spell was keeping the door shut and said to the victim, “don’t worry, just let it happen, don’t worry, it’s okay,” according to court documents.

The officer was able to pepper spray Spell through a crack in the door and was then able to get the door open, spray Spell again and handcuff him. He stated that the other staff who came to help didn’t understand the victim was still in the cell and had closed the door. The officer said he yelled to the others that the victim was still inside and when the door was open he was able to see the victim had gained the upper hand and was handcuffing Crisman, according to court documents.

When the door opened, the officer stated that the victim told him Crisman had said he had a shank and would slit her throat.

The victim was interviewed shortly after the incident and provided a written statement a few days later.

She told investigators that she was pulled into the cell and attacked by Crisman, who threatened to stab her if she kept screaming, so she stopped screaming but kept fighting.

She stated that Crisman grabbed for her throat and since he was fumbling with her belt buckle and pulling at her belt, she believed he was attempting to rape her, according to court documents.

The victim said that she and Crisman were affected by the pepper spray the other officer had used, but she was able to subdue and handcuff Crisman, according to court documents.

She said that she didn’t feel pain at the time due to adrenaline, but believed she’d blacked out for part of the attack when her head hit the floor and her first memory was Crisman on top of her.

The victim was treated at the hospital after the incident and diagnosed with a concussion with a loss of consciousness, neck pain and an injury to her head was documented, as well as bruising and small abrasions on her body, according to court documents.

Crisman had been working in the prison kitchen and according to court documents, the week before the incident, another inmate worker had reported that Crisman “regularly spoke about kidnapping, raping and torturing women.”

The inmate had considered it fantasy talk and not something Crisman would act on, but also told investigators that Crisman had talked about a previous interaction with the victim saying she had the “perfect victim face,” according to court documents.

After the incident, staff searched Crisman’s property and found a notebook in which “he had detailed stories of abduction, torture and rape of women. Notably, these stories contained detailed narratives of his desire to tie up his victims and force himself upon them,” according to court documents.

When Crisman was sentenced in 2012, the Associated Press reported that prosecutors had alleged the former Malmstrom Air Force Base airman had profiled six female real estate agents in the months leading up to the 2011 assault and that he brought zip ties, duct tape and a knife with him to the showing where the assault occurred.

Prosecutors had alleged that Crisman had sexually assaulted the real estate agent at knife point in 2011 with her hands tied behind her back.

In the June incident at the state prison, staff discovered a wire had gone missing from the kitchen and it was found hidden in a bag in the trashcan in Spell’s cell afterward.

Prosecutors wrote in their charging document that it’s believed that Crisman stole the wire while working in the kitchen and hid it in Spell’s cell to be used to help tie up the victim in their planned attack.

After the incident, Spell’s cellmate was interviewed and he said he knew the wire was hidden in the trashcan but didn’t know what Spell was intending to do. He said Spell had warned him the morning of the incident to pack up his things in case something happened and that Crisman had been using drugs in the days leading up to the incident, according to court documents.

Crisman and Spell agreed to be interviewed after the incident and gave “incoherent explanations” for the incident.

Crisman told investigators that he had pushed the victim into Spell’s cell after he saw Spell pulling her and that it wasn’t planned.

Crisman said he’d blacked out and didn’t remember much, and also that his actions were due to his drug use. He admitted to investigators that his writings included torture and rape fantasies, according to court documents.

Spell told investigator that he and a person he wouldn’t name had planned to kidnap the victim and hold her ransom to get more rights for inmates. He told investigators that he had held the cell door closed and put items in the door mechanism to prevent officers from opening the door. He also said he had been using drugs and “allowed someone to get in his head to commit the crime and would not have done so but for the drug,” according to court documents. Spell said there was no desire to rape or murder the victim.

Under state law, anyone convicted of a crime committed while incarcerated in state prison, their sentence must be served consecutive to the underlying sentence and since Spell is already serving sentences for deliberate homicide and aggravated assault, he “must serve a life sentence in prison without the possibility of release,” except for the medical parole exception under state law, according to court documents.