Former Athens Mayor James “Monte” Montgomery is headed to federal prison after pleading guilty to child obscenity violations, federal prosecutors say.
The DOJ said Thursday that Montgomery, 64, admitted to federal investigators he sent obscene materials to a minor. The Department of Justice said in a statement that the former mayor was arrested on June 3, 2021, after showing up at an undisclosed location after soliciting sex online with investigators posing as minors.
Investigators said that in June 2020, when Montgomery was mayor, he began communicating by text messaging with a person he believed to be a 15-year-old girl.
“Montgomery sent messages to the child describing sexually explicit acts that he wanted to perform on the child and offering to pay the child if she would meet him and have sex with him,” the DOJ said in a statement.
Montgomery faces up to 10 years in prison. A sentencing hearing has not yet been scheduled.
James “Monte” Montgomery, the mayor of Athens, Texas, was arrested June 3, 2021.
Following his arrest last summer, the City of Athens released a statement saying they were “shocked” to learn of Montgomery’s arrest.
“We were shocked to learn yesterday of Mr. Montgomery’s arrest in Longview,” the city said in a statement. “These are very serious allegations and the City of Athens does not take them lightly. We are committed to the protection and safety of our children. The City Council will be considering all possible actions as details become available. As this is a Longview Police Department investigation, we have no information beyond what has been reported by the news media.”
Montgomery, whose term as mayor wasn’t to expire until 2023, resigned June 4, 2021, the day after he was arrested.
This case is part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse. Led by U.S. Attorneys’ Offices and the Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section (CEOS), Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state and local resources to better locate, apprehend and prosecute individuals who exploit children via the Internet, as well as to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit http://www.justice.gov/psc.
