More than two years after a 15-year-old baby sitter was molested and raped by a Whitefish couple, sentencing for the assailants still is unresolved.

Sentencing hearings planned Thursday were continued until March 20 for Kory Hubble and Nadine Lyons Hubble. On Nov. 17, 2011, they provided marijuana and alcohol to a baby sitter before assaulting the girl.

Kory Hubble, 25, has pleaded guilty to felony sexual intercourse without consent. His soon-to-be ex-wife, Nadine Lyons Hubble, 22, pleaded guilty to felony sexual assault.

Lyons Hubble said that she had fallen asleep breastfeeding and was awakened by a naked Hubble, who led her to a back room where the victim was. Then Hubble raped the girl and Lyons Hubble molested her.

A plea agreement in Hubble’s case indicated the Flathead County Attorney’s Office will recommend a sentence of five years to the Montana State Prison followed by 15 years, suspended, with no parole eligibility during his incarceration

The agreement allows Hubble to argue that his parole eligibility should only be restricted until he completes the first phase of the state’s sex offender treatment program.

Lyons Hubble, who also had been charged with felony sexual intercourse without consent, pleaded guilty to sexual assault without the benefit of a plea agreement.

For that reason, the second charge continued to hang over her until it was eventually dismissed at the request of the county attorney’s office.

“We were going to be able to get the same [sentence] and I felt it was appropriate to proceed just based on what she had admitted to,” Deputy County Attorney Travis Ahner said.

She faces a sentence of between four and 100 years or life in the state prison as well as a fine of up to $50,000.

During a hearing in Flathead District Court on Thursday, Hubble’s attorney, Jack Quatman, said Hubble recently had been arrested and charged with drunk driving.

“In anticipation of seeing you, he went out and celebrated, and got caught,” he said.

That misdemeanor DUI case is pending in Whitefish Municipal Court.

Sentencing for both Hubble and Lyons Hubble were continued to March 20 while a pre-sentence investigation for Lyons Hubble is completed.

Ahner and District Judge David Ortley agreed that the sentencing hearings should be held the same day.

“It’s always best when codefendants are sentenced on the same day, I think,” Ahner said. “Any sort of testimony or arguments made with regard to one person is more present in the judge’s mind for the codefendant.”

According to Ahner, it is not surprising for cases as significant as the Hubbles’ to take so long to reach a conclusion, but he said some of the delays were unique.

“The psychosexual evaluation for Kory took a great deal of time to get, much longer than we normally deal with. So again, I’m not surprised it took a long time, but this has been a little bit longer than some of our other sex offense-type cases,” he said.

Ahner said the delays have been particularly hard on the victim and her family.

“They just want it to be done with,” he said. “So they’re looking for, ‘When is this thing going to be resolved, so I can move on and not have to think about this,’ either court or victim impact statements or all that sort of stuff. I know it’s been especially frustrating for them because they haven’t had closure yet.”

He said he did not believe that Kory Hubble’s new drunk-driving case would hold up sentencing in the rape case.

The Hubbles filed for divorce after being arrested on their charges. The divorce has yet to be finalized.

Reporter Jesse Davis may be reached at 758-4441 or by email at jdavis@dailyinterlake.com.