See the update at the end of this post on Montano pleading not guilty at his arraignment to sexual assault AND attempted sexual assault.
ORIGINAL POST, DEC. 18, 6:30 A.M.: With less than two weeks of 2013 to play with, we may have stumbled upon the Ugliest Police Mugshot of the Year.
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That is thanks to the kisser of Mario Orlando Montano, who was arrested and booked on suspicion of sexual assault and felony assault in Anaheim, the 55-year-old's city of residence.
The full view …
You're welcome.
A woman was jogging around the Walnut Canyon Reservoir, near Canyon Rim Road and Serrano Avenue the afternoon of Dec. 10 when a man approached her, introduced himself and tried to strike up a conversation. She resisted his advances, and he knocked her to the ground, sat on top of her, covered her mouth and started punching her face, according to the Anaheim Police Department.
The stranger was beginning to assault her sexually when she managed to break free, run away from him and call 9-1-1 from the 7000 block of East Shorecrest Lane, police say. Officers arrived there to find her with “several visible injuries,” according to a police statement that also indicates she provided a detailed description of her attacker.
Officers detained a man matching that description as he was walking away from the entrance of the reservoir. The jogger later identified him as the attacker, and police identified him as Montano. He was arrested and booked into the Anaheim Police Department Temporary Detention Facility on suspicion of sexual assault and felony assault, but he later made his $50,000 bail and was released from custody.
Detectives, who fear Montano may have assaulted or attempted to assault other women locally, ask anyone with information to call Orange County Crime Stoppers at 855.TIP.OCCS, visit www.occrimestoppers.org or text OCCS and your tip to 274637.
The lady jogger received medical treatment at the scene and was released.
UPDATE, DEC. 24, 9:12 A.M.: The day before Montano allegedly assaulted the jogger, he is accused of trying to do the same to a neighbor, according to a statement from the Orange County District Attorney's office (OCDA).
On the afternoon of Dec. 9, 2013, Montano is accused of knocking on the door of his neighbor, 42-year-old Jane Doe #1, and was let into the home by a child. The defendant is accused of briefly chatting with the victim before asking her for sex. When Jane Doe #1 declined, Montano is accused of advancing on her and cornering her in a room. He is accused of repeatedly telling her that he wanted sex and trying to put his arm around her. The defendant is accused of unzipping his pants with the intent to commit a sexual assault. The victim feared that she was about to be sexually assaulted, said that she would report Montano to his landlord, and Montano is accused of then fleeing the scene.
The Anaheim Police Department is now investigating both cases.
Montano pleaded not guilty at his arraignment Monday, when he stood accused of felony attempted forcible rape, assault with the intent to commit a sexual offense and assault with force likely to produce great bodily injury, along with a sentence-enhancing allegation of great bodily injury to a sexual assault victim. A conviction could send him to state prison for 12 years and force him to register as a sex offender the rest of his life, according to the OCDA.
However, prosecutors are also seeking information from the public about other possible crimes and victims that could add more charges and possible prison time. Anyone with information is asked to contact Supervising District Attorney Investigator Paul Carvo at 714.347.8794. Anonymous tips may be left with Orange County Crime Stoppers at 855.817.6227.
Court records indicate Montano was convicted of misdemeanor assault and battery in September 1992 and sentenced to six months in jail.
Email: mc****@oc******.com. Twitter: @MatthewTCoker. Follow OC Weekly on Twitter @ocweekly or on Facebook!
OC Weekly Editor-in-Chief Matt Coker has been engaging, enraging and entertaining readers of newspapers, magazines and websites for decades. He spent the first 13 years of his career in journalism at daily newspapers before “graduating” to OC Weekly in 1995 as the alternative newsweekly’s first calendar editor.