A truck driver who worked for Cochise County when arrested in 2019 by a taskforce targeting online sex predators has pleaded guilty to federal charges of possessing child pornography.
In January, Joseph Warren Montgomery will be sentenced by U.S. District Court Judge John C. Hinderaker to a term between five and eight years in the Federal Bureau of Prisons. Upon release, Montgomery will be on lifetime federal probation and must register as a sex offender.
Montgomery, 50, was taken into custody Feb. 13, 2019 when he arrived at a location in Sierra Vista intending to meet a 14-year-old girl with whom he had been communicating online. In a post-Miranda statement, Montgomery admitted he was planning to have sex with the girl at the Charleston Road Bridge.
Agents found condoms in Montgomery’s vehicle, as well as a specific gift the “girl” requested he bring her. But all the time Montgomery had been exchanging sexually explicit conversations with a law enforcement officer using the screen name AZGirl13.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office initially charged Montgomery with attempting to entice a minor for sex, but that count was swapped out by the prosecutor when investigators discovered several images of child pornography on Montgomery’s cellphone.
Montgomery’s plea agreement refers to six specific video files depicting minor children engaged in sexually explicit conduct. However, Montgomery also admitted to accessing and viewing other files.
“Many of the images and videos I viewed depicted children well under the age of 12,” according to the factual basis of the agreement. “
Court records show Montgomery had been released from federal pretrial detention within days of his arrest. However, he was taken back into custody in April 2020 to await trial after being accused of violating the conditions of his pretrial release.
Montgomery has remained in the custody of the U.S. Marshal Service ever since. His sentencing will not occur until Jan. 6, 2022 so that Montgomery has time to undergo psychiatric and psychosexual evaluations which Hinderaker must take into consideration when deciding how long of a prison sentence to impose.
Public records show Montgomery lost his job with Cochise County shortly after his arrest.
