A 25-year-old man wanted in Georgia on a felony charge of child molestation was arrested Wednesday morning after Cook County Sheriff’s officers staked out a home in Chicago’s Marquette Park neighborhood and stopped the car he was riding in. Jalynn Montgomery is now being held in Cook County Jail while he awaits extradition to Georgia.
According to the Cook County Sheriff’s Office, the arrest capped an investigation launched by the office’s Fugitive Apprehension Unit with help from the U.S. Marshals Great Lakes Regional Fugitive Task Force. The Savannah, Georgia Police Department wanted Montgomery for allegedly sending an obscene photo of himself to a child, and the U.S. Marshals Southeast Fugitive Task Force reached out to Cook County officers on July 29 asking for help tracking him down. As reported by FOX 32 Chicago, the residence under watch sat in the 6600 block of South Rockwell Street, in Marquette Park on Chicago’s South Side.
Surveillance Leads to a Traffic Stop
Cook County Sheriff’s officers set up surveillance near the Rockwell Street home on Wednesday, working off information that Montgomery may have lived there and may have driven a 2014 Chevrolet Captiva. That morning, officers watched the Captiva head toward the home’s garage, according to the sheriff’s office. They stopped the vehicle and found Montgomery in the passenger seat, taking him into custody without incident.
The Southeast Fugitive Task Force, which initiated the request to find Montgomery, operates out of five Georgia offices including Savannah and has apprehended more than 45,700 fugitives since it launched in June 2003, per the U.S. Marshals Service. The Great Lakes task force that assisted Cook County officers was created in 2003 under the Presidential Threat Protection Act of 2000 and partners with more than 90 federal, state and local agencies across Illinois, Indiana and Wisconsin.
What Montgomery Faces in Georgia
Under Georgia Code O.C.G.A. § 16-6-4, transmitting immoral or indecent images to a child under 16 via an electronic device with sexual intent is classified as felony child molestation, carrying a statutory prison sentence of 5 to 20 years and mandatory sex offender registration upon conviction, according to Justia Law. The sheriff’s office notes that defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law, and the charge against Montgomery remains an allegation at this stage…