Woonsocket Radio News Room

 

Pawtucket man found guilty of first-degree child molestation

 

PROVIDENCE, R.I. – Attorney General Peter F. Neronha announced that a Pawtucket man was found guilty in Providence County Superior Court of first-degree child molestation against a female victim under the age of 14 between 2015 and 2020.

 

On May 24, 2022, following the conclusion of an eight-day trial before Superior Court Justice Jeffrey A. Lanphear, a jury found Miguel Montero (age 41) guilty of one count of first-degree child molestation.

 

The defendant is currently being held without bail pending a sentencing hearing.

 

“Sexual assaults against children at the hands of a trusted adult remain an ongoing, devastating problem in Rhode Island – we have charged over 400 such cases over the last five years alone,” said Attorney General Neronha. “While nothing can reverse the damage caused by this defendant’s reprehensible, criminal misconduct, my hope is that through the jury’s guilty verdict, the victim will know that her voice has been heard and her truth recognized, and that the long prison sentence that will now follow will provide for her a measure of justice.”

 

During the trial, the State proved beyond a reasonable doubt that between 2015 and 2020, the defendant sexually assaulted a female victim under the age of 14, who was known to him, at a home in Pawtucket.

 

The victim disclosed the assault to family members in 2020, who then notified the Rhode Island Department of Children, Youth, and Families (DCYF) and the Pawtucket Police Department. Following a brief investigation, members of the Pawtucket Police Department arrested the defendant on September 23, 2020.

 

“Cases such as these are devastating for the victim and difficult for the community as a whole, however I want to thank the whole team who has worked on this case,” said Acting Public Safety Director, Chief Tina Goncalves. “The Pawtucket Police Department and Attorney General’s Office were dedicated to this case and spent countless hours on the investigation and prosecution.”

 

Assistant Attorney General Shannon Signore and Special Assistant Attorney General Meagan Thomson of the Office of the Attorney General and Detective Justin Gould of the Pawtucket Police Department led the investigation and prosecution of the case.

 

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