Erie man charged in attempted sexual assault found not guilty at trial

Staff Reporter
Updated ·1 min read
An autopsy was scheduled in Erie County on Friday for a 2-year-old Oil City boy who was found dead in a canvas bag hidden under a table inside an Oil City residence on Wednesday. Oil City police have charged the 24-year-old boyfriend of the boy's mother with killing the child on Monday.

Update to April 28, 2015, story: Montael Jones was subsequently found not guilty of all charges in the case, according to court records.

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Erie police said a fingerprint found on a bathroom window led them to charge a city man with breaking into a westside apartment and attempting to sexually assault an 11-year-old girl in early November.

Montael B. Jones, 27, remained in the Erie County Prison on $75,000 bond Monday following his arraignment late Saturday afternoon by Erie 2nd Ward District Judge Paul Urbaniak on felony counts of burglary and criminal trespass and on a misdemeanor count of criminal attempt at indecent assault.

Police accuse Jones of entering a residence in the 900 block of West 18th Street on Nov. 1 at about 5:40 a.m. and confronting an 11-year-old girl while she was asleep on a couch in the living room. Police charge that Jones picked the girl up, carried her into a bedroom and closed the door. He then started to kiss the girl and attempted to remove her pants, according to the criminal complaint.

The girl fought off Jones and ran into another room. He then fled the apartment, investigators said Monday.

Police said a fingerprint belonging to Jones was found on the glass of the bathroom window, which is where Jones entered the residence, according to the complaint.

TIM HAHN can be reached at 870-1731 or by e-mail. Follow him on Twitter at twitter.com/ETNhahn.

This article originally appeared on Erie Times-News: Erie man charged in attempted sexual assault found not guilty at trial