Franklin Township man accused of sexual relationship with teen girl, assaulting another
A Franklin Township man was accused having an inappropriate sexual relationship with a 13-year-old girl and inappropriately touching an 11-year-old girl in separate cases filed by state police Monday, June 3.
Police said texts sent to the teen from Todd C. Montgomery, 39, revealed he expressed a desire to marry her when she turns 18 and have children.
In that case, Montgomery is charged with felonies rape, child endangerment, child pornography, statutory sexual assault, sexual assault, corruption of minors, criminal use of a communication facility, unlawful contact with a minor, interference with custody of children and involuntary deviate sexual intercourse with a child less than 16, and misdemeanor indecent assault of a person less than 16.
In the second case, Montgomery was charged with misdemeanor indecent assault for an incident in Slippery Rock Township.
On Monday, Montgomery was placed in Butler County Prison and denied bail on both sets of charges since “no condition or combination of conditions will assure safety” of the victims, court documents state.
Police said they were dispatched to a Franklin Township home at 5:45 a.m. Feb. 26 after it was reported Montgomery took the girl to work with him in Slippery Rock when she should have been in school.
Police said the girl’s mother had suspicions about Montgomery’s relationship with the girl being inappropriate based on previous witnessed and reported interactions.
According to police, Montgomery and the girl were found later that day at his place of work. The girl’s phone was seized on scene and later searched by officers.
There were numerous inappropriate messages sent via text, Facebook Messenger and Snapchat between Montgomery and the girl, police said. Some messages included sexually explicit photos the girl sent to Montgomery, and vice versa, police said.
According to police, the two communicated regularly about marriage. One message from Montgomery read, “if I could put a ring on ur finger and call u my wife I would,” charging documents show.
On Feb. 28, police said the girl’s iPad was found to have explicit messages between her and Montgomery. The communications included the description of various sex acts, police said.
A protection from abuse order was served on Montgomery on March 5 while police investigated further, according to the affidavit. Police said it was discovered later Montgomery violated that order by communicating with the girl though a Snapchat friend request and messages on Life360.
On March 19, the girl was interviewed at the Children’s Advocacy Center of Butler County. She disclosed having 25 pornographic images and a video from Montgomery, and police said she acknowledged sending Montgomery inappropriate photographs of herself.
This was later confirmed after a search was conducted on the girl’s phone and iPad, police said.
On March 27, Montgomery was taken into custody by troopers and his cellphone was seized. Police said a search of his phone confirmed sexually explicit photos and messages were sent to the girl.
Police said some of Montgomery’s messages detailed “desires and fantasies” about sexual contact between the two, as well as a scenario where the two would be married when the girl was 18 and have a child together.
“He expresses a desire for them to create a happy, beautiful family life, living as a devoted husband and wife,” the affidavit read.
In addition, police said Montgomery tried to buy the girl a new phone, and asked her to write a message to him from her mother’s phone saying “this was a big misunderstanding” in order to have charges filed against him dropped.
According to court documents, an interview was held with another 13-year-old girl at the Children’s Advocacy Center of Butler County on April 1 in regards to Montgomery.
Police said the girl stated that when she was 11 years old, Montgomery touched her inappropriately while they were sitting on a couch in a Slippery Rock Township residence.
The girl disclosed the assault lasted five minutes and that she was “frozen in place” and “didn’t know what to do” during it, police said.
Montgomery’s preliminary hearings are scheduled June 26 before District Judge Joseph Nash.
