LITTLE ROCK — LR pastor arrested
in teen-sex case
Police arrested a Little Rock pastor and TV financial expert Thursday who they say had oral sex with a 15-year-old boy after he and the boy met online, according to an arrest report.
Shane Anthony Montgomery, 42, of 12716 Valleywood Drive was arrested at a police station on a charge of fourth-degree sexual assault, a felony, the Little Rock Police Department report said.
According to the report, Montgomery admitted during an interview with detectives to performing oral sex on the boy after he and the boy met several times online and face to-face.
The report lists Montgomery as being employed at The River church in Little Rock, and the church’s Web site identifies him as the lead pastor and a “certified life and financial coach.”
The Web site also links to Montgomery’s Facebook page, where he is listed as having more than 1,400 online friends.
On the page, his profile photo shows him on a KTHV-TV, Channel 11, broadcast where, according to the channel’s Web site, he has been a featured guest giving financial advice on the This Morning show for more than a year.
Calls to two numbers listed for Montgomery were not returned Thursday evening. E-mails sent to Montgomery and other church staff also were not returned.
Montgomery was released about 8 p.m. Thursday from the Pulaski County jail on $2,500 bond.
Police name man shot at restaurant
Police have identified the man who was shot in the parking lot of a downtown Little Rock McDonald’s restaurant Wednesday evening after he and another man fought.
Witnesses told police Brian Ellis, 23, of 325 Pine St. in Hot Springs was shot in his right side after he and another man exited a car and began wrestling in the restaurant parking lot at Broadway and Seventh Street, according to a police news release.
The man then pulled a gun and fired five to six shots at Ellis, police said.
Ellis then ran east and was stopped by Philip Staggs, a retired Little Rock officer who works as a security guard at a nearby day-care center.
Ellis collapsed and was taken by ambulance to UAMS Medical Center, where he was in stable condition Thursday, police said.
The gunman, who witnesses described only as black, fled the scene in a small four-door vehicle. No arrests had been made as of Thursday evening.
Arkansas, Pages 17 on 12/11/2009