16-Year-Old Boy Facing 60 Years for Rape Jumps From Third Floor of Courthouse

A Great Falls teen who had agreed to plead guilty to raping an 11-year-old girl last fall wrestled away from sheriff's deputies who were escorting him to court and jumped over the railing from the third floor at the courthouse striking his head on the tile floor below.

Cascade County officials say 16-year-old Kaleb Kuebler was in leg shackles and handcuffs Wednesday morning when he got away from the officers and jumped.

Witness Katie Kenneway told the Great Falls Tribune that one deputy caught Kuebler's leg shackle but before another officer could get there, the shackle slipped through the deputy's fingers.

Kuebler was listed in critical but stable condition at Benefis Healthcare on Thursday. A spokeswoman said he was not listed in the patient system on Friday, possibly due to a confidentiality request.