Montimer faces sexual assault charge

The Guerdwich Montimer scandal took on a new face Friday as the Permian High imposter was arrested for the third time this week and charged with having sex with a 15-year-old girl. Police said Montimer, 22, misled the girl with the same fictitious tale he told everyone else — that he was a teenager by the name of Jerry Joseph.

The supposed victim, who came forward on Wednesday, told authorities she was "friends" with Montimer but that she would not have consented to have sex with him had she known his true age and identity. Montimer, a sophomore basketball standout who admitted this week to posing as Joseph, was charged with one count of sexual assault, a second-degree felony that greatly increases the amount of prison time Montimer could face if convicted.

Earlier this week, Montimer was charged with one misdemeanor count of presenting a false identification and tampering with governmental documents, a third-degree felony that stemmed from a birth certificate he presented to school officials when he enrolled in public school.

Unlike his first two arrests, Montimer did not immediately post bail. He was being held Friday in the Ector County Detention Center in lieu of a $50,000 bond set by Judge Dennis Jones.

Before Friday, it seemed possible that Montimer could avoid prison time. But he now faces more than 30 years in prison if convicted on all three counts.

An affidavit for Montimer’s third arrest says the girl reported the sex to Ector County Independent School District police on Wednesday. The next day, she was interviewed at Harmony Home, where she detailed the sexual encounter and said Montimer told her he was 15 when the two met at Woodson Park "in the late summer of 2009 before school started."

She said she became friends with Montimer and had sex with him in August at her father’s house in "east Odessa." Police offered Montimer a chance to give a statement Thursday, but he declined, Cpl. Sherrie Carruth said.

Montimer turned himself in to Will’s Bonding on Friday afternoon. It was not clear whether he had hired an attorney.

While the supposed victim told police she would not have consented to sex had she known the truth about Montimer, Carruth said the impostor broke the law simply by having sex with the girl.

"In this case, what you’re looking at is age," Carruth said. "He’s an adult and she’s a juvenile. As a juvenile, she cannot give consent — period."

Carruth said investigators have no evidence beyond the supposed victim’s statement. She said the girl’s parents agreed to press charges.

Investigators have not received any similar complaints about Montimer from other girls, Carruth said.

Also on Friday, the Odessa American obtained documents that further underscore Montimer’s resolve to pass himself off as the 16-year-old Joseph. Montimer was cited for a curfew violation at 3:18 a.m. Aug. 10 after UTPB police found him unattended in a computer lab on campus.

Montimer told police he was 15, even though he was 21 and should not have been charged.