Montoya Found Guilty Of Aggravated Kidnapping And Sexual Assault

Re: CR12-0635; CR12-0637, State of Texas v. James Montoya, 1 count of Aggravated Kidnapping, and 2 counts of Aggravated Sexual Assault:

A Hays County jury today assessed three life sentences and $30,000 in fines against James Robert Montoya, who was convicted this week of aggravated kidnapping and two counts of aggravated sexual assault.

The evidence at trial showed that James Montoya abducted a young woman on February 8, 2011 in Hays County when she ran out of gas on IH35. Montoya physically assaulted her, dragging her to his truck when she attempted to flee. Montoya then sexually assaulted the young woman before she managed to strike him over the head with a beer bottle. She then called police as Montoya fled the remote construction site where he had taken her.

San Marcos Police Department detectives did a thorough investigation but were unable to identify the perpetrator until March of 2012 when Montoya abducted and sexually assaulted an Austin woman during the South by Southwest festival. Forensic scientists at the University of North Texas and the Texas Department of Public Safety used DNA collected from the Hays County crime scene to connect Montoya to the 2011 Hays County case.

During the punishment phase of the trial this week, jurors heard from the Travis County victim and from a 2006 attempted assault victim and a Hays Caldwell Women’s Center expert about the long term effects of Sexual Violence. Prior to his conviction in this case, Montoya had been convicted in Travis County of a separate 2012 sexual assault for which he had been sentenced to 30 years in prison.  207th District Court Judge Jack Robison, who presided over the Hays County case, has ordered that Montoya’s life sentences be served consecutively to his sentence in Travis County.

Hays County District Attorney Wes Mau offers his congratulations to the San Marcos Police Department and Assistant District Attorneys  Brian Erskine and Laura Garcia for their hard work in bringing justice to the young woman who suffered the assault at Montoya’s hands.  Mau also commends the victim in this case for her courage and strength in coming forwards and bringing her case to the jury so that they could see Montoya pay for his crimes.