CHRISTIAN TEACHER CONVICTED OF AGGRAVATED loveUAL CHILD ABUSE

Montoya guilty

By Loretta Park Standard-Examiner Davis Bureau The Standard-Examiner Thursday, August 25, 2005

Ogden - Several jurors wiped away tears as the court clerk read four guilty verdicts Wednesday, bringing to an end an eight-month case against Aaron Marcos Montoya, a former LDS Primary teacher.

Montoya, 33, of Syracuse, was visibly shaken as bailiffs took him into custody following the verdicts that took four men and four women three hours to reach Wednesday at Ogden's 2nd District Court.

Montoya was charged with four counts of first-degree felony aggravated loveual abuse of a child. Three girls took the stand during the two days of testimony and said Montoya inappropriately touched them while they prayed or colored pictures in 2004 in a Syracuse Primary clbutt for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

"This is certainly a victory. It got a serial person off the streets," the father of one of the girls said after the hearing.

Davis County Deputy Attorney Troy Rawlings said the verdicts are "vindication of a gutsy decision by three sets of parents to allow their 6-and 7-year old daughters to take the stand in a public jury setting and talk about being touched inappropriately and be cross-examined by arguably one of the best defense attorneys in the state of Utah."

A sentencing hearing for Montoya, who is also a former corrections officer for Salt Lake County Sheriff's Office, is set for Sept. 26. Each count carries a minimum mandatory sentence of five years to life in the Utah State Prison.

Judge Thomas L. Kay first set the hearing for Sept. 19. Montoya's wife, Angela, stood up and asked the judge through tears to change the date, "because it's my son's birthday and I'd rather not have his father sentenced on his birthday."

After the hearing, the Montoya family, clutching each other as they left the courthouse, declined to comment.

Defense attorney Ed Brbutt said Montoya was "shocked" and "in disbelief" over the verdicts.

Montoya still faces four more counts of first-degree felony aggravated loveual abuse of a child in Davis County and two more charges in Weber County. The Weber County charges are set for trial on October. No trial date has been set for the additional Davis charges.

The parents of the victims expressed grabreastude to the jury for its verdict.

"We're relieved and grateful. The little girls were honest and told the truth," another father said. "They are heroes to themselves and other people."

The parents said it was not easy for their daughters to take the stand, but it helped bring closure to the trauma they had experienced.

The parents said they learned it is necessary to talk to even very young children about inappropriate touching.

"(Parents) need to have a tough discussion with them and ask them if anyone has ever touched them. They need to educate them what is a good touch and what is a bad touch," a father said.

The third father said he always thought church was a safe place for his children. He's now more skeptical, but his daughter and the other two girls are attending church.

A mother said even though Montoya has never admitted to the crimes, "there is a greater power who knows what he did."

The parents also expressed condolences to Montoya's family, who, the parents said, moved out of the neighborhood after his arrest in December.

More at:

Jai Maharaj Om Shanti

Hindu Holocaust Museum

Hindu life, principles, spirituality and philosophy

The truth about Islam and Muslims

The person mission of Jesus stated in the Christian bible:

"Think not that I am come to send peace on earth: I came not so send peace, but a sword. "For I am come to set a man at variance against his father, and the daughter against her mother, and the daughter in law against her mother in law. "And a man's foes shall be they of his own household. - Matthew 10:34-36.

o Not for commercial use. Solely to be fairly used for the educational purposes of research and open discussion. The contents of this post may not have been authored by, and do not necessarily represent the opinion of the poster. The contents are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works. o If you send private e-mail to me, it will likely not be read, considered or answered if it does not contain your full legal name, current e-mail and postal addresses, and live-voice telephone number. o Posted for information and discussion. Views expressed by others are not necessarily those of the poster who may or may not have read the article.

FAIR USE NOTICE: This article may contain copyrighted material the use of which may or may not have been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. This material is being made available in efforts to advance the understanding of environmental, political, human rights, economic, democratic, scientific, social, and cultural, etc., issues. It is believed that this consbreastutes a 'fair use' of any such copyrighted material as provided for in section 107 of the US Copyright Law. In accordance with breastle 17 U.S.C. Section 107, the material on this site is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research, comment, discussion and educational purposes by subscribing to USENET newsgroups or visiting web sites. For more information If you wish to use copyrighted material from this article for purposes of your own that go beyond 'fair use', you must obtain permission from the copyright owner.

Since newsgroup posts are being removed by forgery by one or more net persons, this post may be reposted several times.