The Latest: Kidnapping suspect to get mental evaluation

BILLINGS, Mont. – The latest on the mental fitness evaluation requested by a Montana kidnapping suspect: (all times local):

5 p.m.

A federal judge has ordered the suspect in the kidnapping and rape of a 4-year-old girl on a Montana Indian Reservation to undergo a mental evaluation to see if he’s fit to stand trial.

Assistant Federal Defender Hank Branom says John William Lieba II has no recollection of the Feb. 26 kidnapping as described in a federal indictment.

Branom says Lieba stopped taking his prescribed anti-psychotic medication prior to the alleged crime.

He says the 21-year-old suspect from the Fort Peck Indian Reservation may assert an insanity defence.

Authorities say Lieba abducted the girl from a park in Wolf Point and held her for ransom. It says he engaged in a sex act with the girl and assaulted her.

Lieba has pleaded not guilty. He could face life in prison if convicted.

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8:45 a.m.

A defence attorney says a man charged with kidnapping and raping a 4-year-old girl on a Montana Indian Reservation had stopped taking his prescribed anti-psychotic medication prior to the alleged crime.

Assistant Federal Defender Hank Branom says John William Lieba II has no recollection of the Feb. 26 kidnapping as described in a federal indictment.

Branom filed a motion in U.S. District Court Friday asking for a mental evaluation to determine if the 21-year-old suspect from the Fort Peck Indian Reservation is competent to stand trial.

Authorities say Lieba abducted the girl from a park in Wolf Point and held her for ransom. It says he engaged in a sex act with the girl and assaulted her.

Lieba has pleaded not guilty. He could face life in prison if convicted.