A former Long Beach church member pleaded no contest Thursday to charges of sexually molesting teenage boys in the 1970s, and was immediately sentenced to eight years in state prison, said officials with the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office.
Daniel Montoya pleaded no contest to two counts of sodomy by use of force with a special allegation that he was previously convicted of committing a lewd act on a child under the age of 14, district attorney spokeswoman Sarah Ardalani said.
The investigation began in April 2014 when The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints contacted the Long Beach Police Department alleging Montoya—a former church member—sexually molested several teenage boys beginning in the 1970s, according to the (LBPD).
According to police, one of the victims did not initially report the incidents because they were embarrassed by what happened.
“It was not until years later, when the suspect called one of the victims and inquired about the victim’s eight-year-old child, that the victim felt compelled to disclose the terrible incidents that had occurred,” the LBPD said in a previous statement.
File photo.
After locating and interviewing four more victims, who are now adults, the Long Beach Sexual Assault Investigation detectives discovered Montoya befriended and then sexually molested them as teenagers.
During the investigation, detectives discovered that in 1986 Montoya pled guilty to molesting two teenage boys who were members of his church in Long Beach. Montoya was sentenced to three years probation, ordered to attend psychotherapy treatment and required to register as a sex offender.
“Sometime after this conviction, Montoya moved to Phoenix, Arizona, where he lived without registering as a sex offender as required,” the LBPD stated.
In September 2014, the Los Angeles District Attorney’s Office filed three counts of sexual assault-related charges and issued an arrest warrant.
Long Beach detectives then flew to Phoenix in October 2014 and, with the help of the Phoenix Police Department, arrested Montoya, who was 55 at the time, without incident.
Montoya had previously pleaded not guilty to the counts during a hearing in November 2014.