Jason Priest

Overview

Montana Republican state Senator Jason Priest (SD-30) was arrested February 1, 2014 for domestic assault after throwing his four-year-old daughter inside from a porch, attempting to push his wife off the porch, and attacking his wife’s boyfriend. He pleaded guilty to four counts including family assault and resisting arrest.

Description

Priest’s estranged wife and her boyfriend were at a bar when his wife received a phone call from her four-year-old daughter. Priest took the phone and demanded his wife come pick the child up. Fearing violence, the boyfriend called for police backup before accompanying Priest’s wife to the home. By the time officers arrived, Priest had thrown his four-year-old daughter inside the home from the porch, tried to shove his wife off the porch, and attacked her boyfriend Trapp. Priest pleaded guilty to four counts — partner/family-member assault, assault on his daughter, assault on the boyfriend, and resisting arrest — and received a one-year deferred sentence plus $11,000 in fines and fees. He did not seek re-election.