Man Gets Life Sentence for Sexual Assault

A Stevensville man who was discharged from the military and later spent 18 months in prison for sex crimes against young girls has been sentenced to life in prison for sexually assaulting a girl over a two-year period and soliciting a 13-year-old girl via text.

The Ravalli Republic reports District Judge Jeffrey Langton sentenced 38-year-old Chadwick Tree to two life terms during a Nov. 18 sentencing hearing. He will not be eligible for parole until he turns 98.

Tree was arrested in January after the mother of a 13-year-old Ravalli County girl saw some sexually charged texts from Tree to her daughter. Prosecutors say the mother posed as the girl in subsequent texts and Tree eventually sent an obscene photo of himself to the girl's phone.