LAS VEGAS — A Las Vegas judge ordered a man released on electronic monitoring Tuesday after he was arrested in connection with a fight involving juveniles outside a middle school last week.
Jose Montes, 39, turned himself in to school police on Monday, defense attorney James Gallo said during his initial court appearance Tuesday morning. In 2021, Montes was briefly misidentified as a suspect in a child homicide, but the accusations were dropped after Montes’ son was found alive.
A Las Vegas woman had called police claiming that a child’s body found off of state Route 160 was her son, whose father was Montes. The homicide victim was later identified as 7-year-old Liam Husted, from California.
Prosecutors on Tuesday asked for Montes to be held on a $20,000 bail, arguing that the fight outside Dell H. Robison Middle School on Wednesday was an “extreme level of violence,” and other juveniles attempted to help the child who was attacked.
Gallo argued that Montes’ son had been “intimidated and harassed” for six months by one of the juveniles involved in the fight.
“My understanding is the victim doesn’t even go to this school, and came there just to confront my client’s child,” Gallo said.
Gallo declined to comment on the case following Tuesday’s hearing.
Las Vegas Justice of the Peace Rebecca Saxe ordered Montes to be released from custody but placed on medium-level electronic monitoring. He was also ordered to stay away from the alleged victim.
In addition to child abuse and battery, Montes also faces charges of coercion, contributing to the delinquency of a minor and interfering with a pupil attending school.
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