Consent to Rape, Save Kids

December 13, 2013 permalink

Florida social worker Jason Conrad Montgomery got sex from a mother by threatening to remove her children, and again when he told her she still owed him. What choice did she have? Watch the picture of a boy taken ten days after another mother refused sex with her caseworker.

expand

collapse

DCF investigator accused of sexually battering child’s mother

Jason Montgomery

TBO.com staff/div

Published: December 12, 2013 | Updated: December 12, 2013 at 04:27 PM

An investigator for the Department of Children and Families has been jailed on charges he forced a Lakeland woman to have sex by threatening to take custody of her children.

Jason Montgomery, 27, 1719 James Pointe Drive, Bartow, is charged with two counts of first-degree sexual battery. Montgomery, an investigator since 2011, has been booked into the Polk County Jail.

Montgomery went to the victim’s residence Dec. 5 to discuss the women’s son, who was one of his cases, according to an arrest affidavit. The woman said her son had run away and he had behavioral issues. Montgomery agreed to drive her around to look for the son, during which he said she looked good after having several children.

They returned to her house, and when her children arrived home from school, Montgomery asked them to go to a park while he talked to the mother, the affidavit said.

He is then alleged to have told her that she “needed” to have sex with him, according to the affidavit. The victim refused, then Montgomery said, “Well, then I am going to be forced to do what I have to do.” The victim said she felt helpless because he worked for DCF so she did not resist and was sexually battered.

Weeks later, the victim reportedly got a phone call from Montgomery urging her to get home so they could talk about additional information he received from the police, according to the affidavit. She met Montgomery at her home and he told her, “You owe me for getting you out of trouble.” He then battered her again.

Detectives interviewed Montgomery on Sept. 11 and he denied having sexual or personal interaction with the victim, the affidavit said.

The Florida Department of Law Enforcement notified detectives on Monday that DNA evidence found in the victim’s residence matched Montgomery.

Detectives got an arrest warrant for Montgomery today and he was arrested by the Bartow police, on behalf of Lakeland police, as he returned to work, according to the affidavit.

Source: Tampa Tribune

Addendum: At his trial Montgomery admitted to sexual relations with the mother, but was acquitted of rape.

expand

collapse

Jury Acquits Ex-DCF Agent of Sexual Assault: Taking Stand Sways Jurors

By John Chambliss, THE LEDGER, Published: Thursday, March 26, 2015 at 12:12 a.m., Last Modified: Thursday, March 26, 2015 at 12:12 a.m.

BARTOW | A jury on Wednesday found a former child protective investigator with the Department of Children and Families not guilty of sexually assaulting a woman and threatening to take her children if she wouldn't have sex with him.

Jason Conrad Montgomery, 28, of Bartow.

PROVIDED TO THE LEDGER

Larry Shearer, a lawyer for Jason Conrad Montgomery, 28, said the turning point in the trial was when he questioned Montgomery.

"He was just an excellent witness describing what happened," Shearer said. "He admitted having sex with her but he said that certainly he wouldn't rape her."

Montgomery, of Bartow, faced two counts of sexual battery by coercion, which are first-degree felonies, and a charge of extortion, a second-degree felony. The sexual battery charges each carried a penalty of up to 30 years in prison, while the extortion charge carried a maximum penalty of 15 years.

The jury took about an hour to reach a verdict.

Montgomery was arrested in December 2013. DNA tests linked him to the accusations made by a Lakeland woman.

In 2012, she told Montgomery that she did not want to have sex with him, according to a police report, after he had already touched himself in front of her and told her that she "needed" to.

"Well then I am going to be forced to do what I have to do," the Lakeland police report says Montgomery told the woman.

She told police that she felt he was implying that he would take custody of her children if she didn't have sex with him.

Mark Levine, assistant state attorney, told jurors that Montgomery abused his position of authority.

"He took a gamble and got burned," Levine said. "Her life is just as important as his life."

"All the evidence shows that it wasn't consensual," Levine said.

Shearer said that Montgomery lied to police about having sex with the woman to protect his marriage and job.

"It does not mean he raped her," Shearer said.

Montgomery resigned from the DCF in 2013.

Source: The Ledger, Lakeland Florida