Red Lodge Man Receives 20 Year Prison Sentence for Assault on an Infant
Nathan Polakoff was found guilty of the 2019 crime on July 20, 2023
By Denise Rivette
Nathan Samuel Polakoff, 27, of Red Lodge was sentenced on Wednesday, October 23, 2024, to 20 years in prison after being convicted by a jury in 2023 for assault on a nine month old child, an assault that left the child with permanent physical and cognitive disabilities. The sentence comes after two trials and the legal process to address two motions for a new trial after the guilty verdict. Polakoff was represented by Michael Dunphy and Mark Parker. Carbon County Attorney Alex Nixon and Assistant Attorney General Selene Koepke represented the State. The investigation was conducted by the Red Lodge Police Department.
On March 10, 2023, a Carbon County jury found Polakoff not guilty of one of two charges of felony assault on a minor for injuries that occurred to a nine month old child on or about April 17 and 19, 2019. The jury was unable to come to a unanimous decision on the second charge for the more grievous second injury that occurred on April 19. The State chose to retry Polakoff on the second charge; however, his attorneys asserted that a second trial would be a case of double jeopardy. Carbon County District Court Judge Matthew J. Wald, who presided over the proceedings in District Court, ruled it is not double jeopardy and the Montana Supreme Court later agreed. On July 17, 2023, Polakoff’s second trial on the charge for the April 19, 2019 assault began. On July 20, 2023, Polakoff was found guilty of the second charge. After working through two unsuccessful motions by the defendant for a new trial, his sentence was pronounced over a year later in a hearing on Wednesday.
At the sentencing hearing, Judge Wald went over the materials provided by the parties and listened to testimony before retiring to his chambers to determine Polakoff’s sentence. Witnesses provided victim impact statements and statements about the defendant’s ability to rejoin society if released from incarceration. The attorneys’ statements presented their proposed sentence and discussed some of their supporting material. Victim impact statements were presented first and were provided by an attorney representing the victim and the victim’s mother (who was too distressed to attend the hearing), the victim’s grandparents and the victim’s aunt.
The victim impact statements described the devastating impacts on the the little boy, who before April 2019 was a perfect example of a healthy and happy child. His life since the assault was described as one of recovery and surgeries attempting to undo some of the harm inflicted on him during that fateful weekend. Now 6 years old, the victim’s prognosis is that he will experience the rest of his life with impaired cognitive and physical functions and through a haze of red left in one eye by the blood from his injuries. Doctors do not expect he will develop physically or cognitively to the level necessary to hold a job or fall in love. In the aftermath of this horrific event, while maneuvering through the processes of emergency and rehabilitative care and paying the costs incurred, the grandparents lost their house and one returned to the workforce from retirement to keep food on the table. The victim’s mother lost her job at the time of the injury and has since been the fulltime caregiver to the victim, who requires constant specialized care. The entire family has been devastated and forever changed. They asked the judge to impose harshest punishment possible.
A licensed addiction counselor/licensed clinical therapist who had been working with Nathan during the year prior to the incident testified that she would be willing to work with him again if he were released from custody and believed he would respond well to treatment. On cross examination by Assistant Attorney General Selene Koepke, she could neither confirm nor deny that she was aware of some of Polakoff’s troubling drug use during her treatment of him. A local man who was Polakoff’s employer at the time of his incarceration stated he was a reliable and consciencious worker with a good attitude and that he would hire Polakoff immediately if he were released.
The attorneys followed with their sentencing recommendations and support for their positions. Carbon County Attorney Alex Nixon, for the State, requested a sentence of 20 years in Montana State Prison without the opportunity for parole along with a reasonable fine. In support of his position, Nixon remarked on the defendant’s lack of accountability and remorse as aggravating factors and requested that the Court not put too much weight on the defendant’s good conduct while incarcerated. “I'm going to ask the court not to mistake institutional obedience with with compliance.” He stated that upon taking up this case from the Red Lodge Police Department, he was struck by the unanimous determination of medical professionals that the 9-month old victim had suffered from intentional abuse as well as that the determination that the two horrific skull fractures that the child suffered were intentional and that they would have caused immediate debilitation. That medical information was augmented with “uncontroverted evidence that the defendant, Nathan Polakoff, was alone with the child when he started suffering the effects of his injuries.” Discussing the defense sentencing memo, Nixon stated, “It's hard to ignore the irony of the defendant's request to not be incarcerated because he is vulnerable. It's hard to ignore the irony of the difference in the size between he and [the victim] when this offense occurred. Regardless of which side anyone here in the courtroom sits on right now, I think everybody has to admit the attack on a nine month old child, the infliction of such life changing injuries is horrific and has to be punished. People may disagree as to who they believe inflicted [the harm], but that's not where we're at today, right now. Mr. Polakoff stands convicted of it, and we need to move forward as such.”
Michael Dunphy, counsel for the defendant, argued against a commitment to the Montana State Prison and instead suggested a Department of Corrections (DOC) commitment for 10 years, with 7 suspended, would be more appropriate. Dunphy pointed out, “The Montana Code permits district courts to delegate placement to the Department of Corrections, and underscoring that ability for this court to do so is an understanding that the Department of Corrections is best suited for placement decisions and is best suited for adjusting for nuance and for specific factors of the case. And that's what we'd ask this court to do for those reasons that are laid out in our memo.” In support of his proposed sentence, Dunphy cited mitigating factors that should be taken into account. Dunphy summarized, “[T]he pre-sentence report notes Mr. Polakoff to be low risk securitywise, and also low risk for reoffense. He has absolutely no criminal history to speak of prior to this incident. He has significant community and family support available to him which he would, of course, need and which would be of significant assistance to him if he were placed in programming at the Department of Corrections discretion. He has, as we heard from [his former employer], he has the ability to maintain gainful employment, sounds like immediately. He has the ability to re-enter therapy for substance abuse issues and for whatever behavioral or mental health issues that [his therapist] finds appropriate. The State agrees he has spent 462 days incarcerated, and it appears that we all also agree that Mr. Polakoff has made the most of that time, as it relates to the opportunities available for him at the jail. He is in employment at the jail. He is engaged in programming, and it sounds like he’s a meaningful participant in the programming that he has engaged in. Your Honor, we're looking right now at a very young man, a 27 year old, who, over the course of the timeline of this case, this Court has had the opportunity to see grow and mature from a 22 year old man at the time of the offense to what he is now. And I believe he has grown and he has matured, and frankly, a mandatory stint at the Montana State Prison without invoking the discretion of the Department of Corrections….I see no reason to think that that would reduce any potential aptitude he may have toward criminality. Your Honor, I think it would, frankly, be the opposite reaction most likely.”
After hearing what the witnesses and attorneys had to say, and confirming with counsel that a DOC commitment would limit the incarceration time to 5 years and that any other time must be suspended, the Honorable Matthew J. Wald retired to his chambers to determine the sentence he would hand down. After approximately half an hour, Judge Wald returned to the bench with his decision. He began by acknowledging that this was an extremely emotional situation for both families involved. He stated he understood that Polakoff’s “supporters are here because they love him and believe him and believe IN him; not because they're in favor of hurting children, but because they, as far as the Court can determine, they believe that an injustice was done here.”
He went on to take exception to the State considering a lack of accountability as an aggravating factor. ‘What I'll say before we really get going here is the defendant has the right to maintain his innocence. That's what he is doing. In this country, he has the right to remain silent here today, and in no way does the exercise of that right or his desire to appeal the conviction in this case, [in no way] will that be weighed against him in determining an appropriate sentence. That is our system. That is the due process that every defendant is entitled to and and that's what we must consider. And for that reason, as I said, I don't hold that against Mr. Polakoff at all. However, the other side of that coin is that Mr. Polakoff has been convicted by a jury of his peers of this offense. He has been convicted of essentially smashing the skull of a nine month old baby and nearly killing him. That is what he is convicted of. That is the offense for which this Court must sentence him, and that is what I must consider in an appropriate sentence.” Judge Wald went through the material that was presented to him and the laws that apply. “After I take all that into account, the punishment must be commensurate with the degree of harm in the case. And the degree of harm in this case was enormous. It was, it was enormous and significant and forever.”
Judge Wald went on to sentence Polakoff to 20 years in a prison designated by the Montana Department of Corrections with none of that term suspended. However, the mitigating factors that the judge outlined kept him from imposing the parole restriction requested by the State. “It'll be up to the defendant to earn that right only if, in the discretion of the parole board, he is fit to have that opportunity.” The defendant was given credit for 462 days of time served and only a statutory fine was imposed. Polakoff is required, should he be released, to register as a violent offender.
Judge Wald concluded, “The prison sentence does provide a necessary punishment for what is one of the worst criminal acts that a person can do, the permanent harm of a child. The sentence is consistent with the requirements of Montana law and the sentencing mandates. It does take into account the nature of the crime committed. It does take into account the victim impact, both to the child himself, who will never be normal, and the family of the child who really will never have a normal life because of [the care the victim requires]. It does take into account the interests of Justice and the need for public safety. It does allow the defendant the opportunity to someday rejoin society if, in the discretion of the parole board, they believe that that is appropriate.”
Polakoff was then remanded to the Carbon County Sheriff to carry out the sentence.