Guilty Verdict Secured

District Attorney's Office Releases Results of Recent Sexual Assault Trial

Washoe County District Attorney Chris Hicks has announced that Pablo Montantes III, age 38 from Stockton, California was found guilty earlier this month on one count of Sexual Assault and one count of Open and Gross Lewdness, First Offense following a four-day jury trial in District Court.  Montantes will be sentenced in January and faces up to life in prison with the possibility of parole.

The case against Montantes began in March, 2021 when an adult female contacted the Reno Police Department (RPD) to report having been sexually assaulted by a male relative during a weekend trip to Reno from California.  The victim provided RPD detectives with information and text messages related to the sexual assault and an investigation resulted in an arrest warrant being sought for Montantes.  Following the arrest and extradition of Montantes, this office filed formal criminal charges and the case proceeded to trial.

At trial, Deputy District (DDA) Darcy Cameron argued that due to the familial relationship and complete lack of any prior sexual contact between the victim and the defendant, the defendant could not and did not have any reasonable belief that the victim consented to any of the sexual acts committed against her.