Last year, the city of Athens, TX was rocked with the shocking news of the city's mayor being arrested by Longview Police for online solicitation of a Minor and sexual conduct forcing his immediate resignation from his position. He recently had his day in federal court on those charges.

The Original Story Of How The Arrest Happened.

Gregg County Jail

According to the Department of Justice, in June of 2020, James Montgomery, then the mayor of Athens, Texas, began communicating by text messaging with a person he believed to be a 15-year-old female. Montgomery sent messages to the child describing sexually explicit acts that he wanted to perform on the child and offering to pay the child if she would meet him and have sex with him.

Montgomery was arrested with 3 other men as part of an undercover sting operation.

The case is part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse. Led by U.S. Attorneys’ Offices and the Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section (CEOS), Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state and local resources to better locate, apprehend and prosecute individuals who exploit children via the Internet, as well as to identify and rescue victims.

On June 3, 2021, Montgomery was arrested after arriving at an undisclosed location after soliciting sex online with investigators posing as minors.

Thinkstock

After more than a year, James Monte Montgomery, 64, pleaded guilty to sending obscene materials to a minor on Thursday (Aug. 25) before U.S. Magistrate Judge John D. Love. Montgomery faces up to 10 years in federal prison at sentencing. A sentencing hearing will be scheduled after the completion of a presentence investigation by the U.S. Probation Office.

Texas is Looking for These 28 Fugitives Including 1 Last Known to be in Lufkin (as of August 26, 2022)

These fugitives are wanted by the Texas Department of Public Safety. The charges range from parole violations to murder, to failure to register as a sex offender and other offenses.

[Look] at the Almost 50 Dogs Rescued from Puppy Mill in Cherokee County

One of the things I can't get over? Despite how much these dogs have been through, you can still see how hopeful they seem. They just need to find loving homes.

This Athens, Texas Tiny Home Is Only 207 Sq. Ft. But Can Comfortably Sleep 4 People

Whether you are actively looking to buy a tiny home, or just take in the tiny ingenuity, these things are so cool. I'm blown away at how much these engineers can Ikea into such small places.