Libby man accused of rape returned to county jail

A man accused of rape after an incident in Libby nearly three years ago was returned to the Lincoln County Detention Center recently after violating the conditions of his release.

Mark Douglas Brickey, 57, of Libby is facing one felony count of sexual intercourse without consent. He pleaded not guilty in Lincoln County District Court on March 13, 2023. 

During a July 22 status hearing, Brickey’s public defender, Ben Kolter, told District Judge Matt Cuffe that he spoke recently with his client and he was still having surgeries.

County Attorney Marcia Boris said she’d like to see documentation on Brickey’s health and injuries.

According to court documents, Brickey was released from custody in January 2024 so he could get treatment following a botched spinal surgery and an infection at the surgery site. Brickey went to the University of Utah Neurosciences Center in Salt Lake City before returning to live in Libby.

After establishing care at Cabinet Peaks Medical Center in Libby and Logan Health in Kalispell, his treatment continued. He was described in a court document as barely ambulatory, needing a walker and his condition worsening. It also said he needed hip injections, lumbar epidural steroid injections and fusion surgery.

On Sept. 23, county Attorney Marcia Boris filed a motion to revoke his release due to Brickey allegedly not contacting the county probation office and failing to update his address.

During an ensuing traffic stop on Sept. 25, county deputy Clint Heintz was advised to arrest Brickey because his bond was revoked. During the stop, Brickey consented to a search, court documents said.

A search turned up several marijuana tubes and a plastic baggie with a white, crystal residue inside. He was charged with criminal possession of drug paraphernalia and unlawful possession of marijuana products in a motor vehicle on a highway.

Brickey also missed a pre-trial conference on Sept. 5, 2023, and he was picked up on Sept. 9 on an outstanding warrant. 

According to the charging document filed by Lincoln County Attorney Marcia Boris, Chris Pape, then a sergeant with the Libby Police Department, was called to Cabinet Peaks Medical Center on Jan. 1, 2022, for a sexual assault report. Pape met with the alleged victim, her father and her younger sister in the emergency room’s waiting area.

The sister said she woke up at 6 a.m. in the morning because she could hear groaning noises. She went to the living room and saw Brickey, “doing things to her sister,” but knew her sister was way too drunk for any of that.

The sister who witnessed the alleged assault told Pape that they went out for New Year’s and partied before returning home. She said Brickey wanted to drink some more and the alleged victim decided to stay up and drink with him.

The younger sister alleged that Brickey smacked her butt twice, prompting Lilith to yell at him. She said Brickey and the victim continued to take shots after that. She said Brickey was visiting from Deer Lodge and was staying with the victim’s sister and Logan Brickey, the suspect’s son. When Logan’s girlfriend told him his dad was allegedly assaulting her sister, he didn’t believe it at first before he saw it and yelled at his dad to stop.

When Pape spoke with the alleged victim, she said she didn’t remember anything past 2 a.m., that she could never see herself “coming on to him” and she didn’t want to do a rape kit. Hospital staff had seen her to check out rib injuries she suffered when she fell, but not for the alleged sex assault.

The victim’s father told Pape that Mark Brickey was coming on to her throughout the night. She agreed to go to Logan Health in Kalispell for a sexual assault test. The next day the father took the alleged victim’s clothes to the Libby Police Department where former officer Ian Smith took them and placed them into temporary evidence.

The maximum term for a rape conviction is 20 years in the Montana State Prison.