Man who spent years in prison for false rape claim being freed
RICHMOND, Va. (AP) - Virginia Gov. Bob McDonnell has issued a conditional pardon ordering the release of a man who was convicted of a sexual assault his accuser now says never occurred.
The governor's office said Johnathan Montgomery was released Tuesday night from the Greensville Correctional Center.
In issuing the conditional pardon, McDonnell called Montgomery's imprisonment a "travesty of justice."
The 26-year-old Montgomery was convicted in 2008 of sexually assaulting Elizabeth Paige Coast. Then 17, the accuser claimed Montgomery assaulted her outside her grandmother's house in Hampton in 2000 when he was 14 and she was 10. Montgomery was sentenced to 7 1/2 years in prison.
Since she recanted, Coast has been arrested on a perjury charge and released on bond.
The governor's office said Johnathan Montgomery was released Tuesday night from the Greensville Correctional Center.
In issuing the conditional pardon, McDonnell called Montgomery's imprisonment a "travesty of justice."
The 26-year-old Montgomery was convicted in 2008 of sexually assaulting Elizabeth Paige Coast. Then 17, the accuser claimed Montgomery assaulted her outside her grandmother's house in Hampton in 2000 when he was 14 and she was 10. Montgomery was sentenced to 7 1/2 years in prison.
Since she recanted, Coast has been arrested on a perjury charge and released on bond.
According to The Daily Press, Coast told investigators that her parents caught her looking at pornographic websites in 2007, so she concocted the story of prior sexual abuse to explain her behavior. Coast blamed Montgomery because his family had moved away and she didn't think police would be able to track him down. Read more: http://www.wjla.com/articles/2012/11/johnathan-montgomery-va-man-in-prison-for-false-rape-claim-being-freed-82298.html#ixzz2CtbliAkb
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Unbelievable!!!
I hope they come down hard on her. Imagine the hell in unjustly serving time for a rape conviction in an adult facility for 4 years. She needs to serve some time for this then pay restitution afterward. I'd also look into why/how the Virginia legal system failed this guy.
The only problem with giving her time in jail is that will set a precedent for others to not tell the truth in the future. Quite a moral dilemma we have.
 @Magic 8 Ball Agreed, women like her, is why its so hard for those who have been raped to be taken seriously. I wish I could say that her time in prison will be a lesson about why you should never lie about matters like this, instead most likely she will learn how to lie better and probably do this again, in the future.
 @yentaleh  @Magic 8 Ball I'm sorry but this is bunk. Rape not taken seriously? If that were true, this man wouldn't have sat in prison for several years convicted of a crime he didn't commit based on zero evidence. Her spending time in jail will send a message to all those considering using false accusations of rape against others that they better think twice before lying to the law.
 @dg54321 I was raped back in 1992, at a frat party while I was in university, someone slipped me a 'mickey' and the next thing I remember was waking up partially nude in one of the frat guys' bed, there was blood on the sheets and I knew that I had been sexually assaulted. I was able to get out of there and made it back to my dorm where my roommate took me to hospital. I went through the standard rape kit and questioning but because I was at a frat party and I was hazy on the details, the cop assumed that it was "probably consensual" (WHICH, IT WASN'T!). I was left humiliated, confused, devastated. So no this isn't bunk, and this woman just made it harder for other women to report rape. I am an honest, honourable woman who tried to do the right thing but I got screwed in the end.
What a piece of work this gal is. I honestly hope she gets some time for this. Not only did she rob this man of his freedom for four years, but there are little girls out there who have or are being sexually molested and if this plants even one seed of doubt in the minds of jurors there may be some who get off when they really are guilty.
@Jatok  I agree but in her defense, she was only 10 at the time and may not have realized the extent of the problem.Â
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I have a problem with the math. If he was convicted to 7.5 years in prison when he was 17, why is he still in jail at 26? If he was 14 in 2000 when this supposedly occurred, in 2008 when he was sentenced, he would have been 22 and not 17. This is a very poorly written or researched article.
@scared_citizen, The article states that she was 17yrs old when she reported being raped by this guy when she was 10yrs old and he was 14yrs old. Which would have made him 22yrs old when she reported it, and 26yrs old now after serving 4yrs in prison.
@scared_citizen Yes, but even most 10 year olds realize the difference between a lie and the truth. She may not have realized what the consequences would be to the man, but she knew she was lying.
@scared_citizen It's possible she was trying to "get even" with him for something. Hard to tell.
@Jatok  I agree with that assessment. If the attack DIDN'T happen, she had to have known that she was lying. I can't even begin to understand why she would even make that up. Perhaps she was pressured by someone else to make this up.Â
Wow, I'm glad he is being free, now people know who he is, and everyone wanted him dead, beaten to a bloody mess, rape, all while being in prison. Now these same people who showed him anger, now has to show him respect. The girl who did this to him should get no time at all. There is something wrong with her mentally, I think. She has now cried wolf and next time no one will believe her. She needs some help, to deal with whatever it is to make her think that this was all fun and games and OK. After she understands what her actions has done, that is when she should faces charges. Have it be a fine, jail, or whatever, she needs to understand.Â
I hope they hang her by her thumbs. Does she have any concept, any idea what other prisoners do to rapists in the system?
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She is a feckin' monster - and its women like her that give us stupidity like politicians that say, "legitimate rape," and set her whole gender back 50 years.
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Hang her by her feckin' thumbs and cover her with fire ants.
Why did the "victim" name Montgomery an attacker in the first place if he never did it? Was the girl even attacked? Why is she NOW recanting her story?
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Why are there no details? There is nothing worse than reading a half-ass story with no details.
 @Tattooed_Angel Don't read it then, I got everything I possibly wanted to know about this case. Some people just too obsessed with other people's private lives
What the hell is wrong with our justice system when, with no evidence other than the 'victims' testimony, a person can be convicted of a felony?
@magic, well to be honest, it use to happen a lot to African-Americans in the past during Jim Crow days (I thought we learned from that), but now it's happening to men of all races in criminal and family courts across the nation where a woman can make these type of accusations with impunity and because of outcomes like this case a lot of men take a plea bargain for fear of ending up like Mr. Montgomery. Pete Carrol just gave a 27yr old guy by the name of Brian Banks a tryout for the Seahawks after a similar travesty except he took a plea bargain. I'm not sure if Montgomery took a plea bargain or not, but it would be interesting to know--I suspect that he did.
She should get twice the amount of time that he was sentenced; 17 is more than old enough to know right from wrong. What a useless piece of crap.Â
This stinks; first the alleged assault happened in 2000 when he was 14 and she was 10 yet his conviction did not happen until 2008 when he was an adult, since he was an adult at his assault conviction trial he received an adult sentence. Four years later her accusations recanted he is freed (and that is good). Now we should hope that she is found guilty of perjury; she is 17 now (still a minor), but her conviction is not handed down until after she turns 18, see if the goose/gander effect will be fair.
Actually, if she was 10 and he was 14, then that would make him 4yrs older than her and therefore she would be 22yrs old now. So, she could be charged and sentenced as an adult.
 @left-center Nope, in this case the gander will get the female discount plus the juvenile sentencing formula weighted as heavily as possible in her favor.
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Anyone who lies to get someone wrongly convicted should have to serve twice the amount of time their pathetic lies earned their victim. Â Not just twice what the victim served, but twice the imposed sentence.
Nope, false allegations aren't a problem at all.....glad this guy finally gets his freedom, now hopefully this worthless twat gets what's coming to her.
Make her serve his term!