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BASTROP — A Bastrop man with a prior criminal history faces four felony charges after a welfare check led investigators to allegations of assault against a child.
Jeremy Montoya, 44, was indicted May 5 in the 21st District Court on two counts of injury to a child, a first-degree felony, and charges of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon and assault of a family member, second-degree felonies. All four charges are enhanced by 2015 convictions including aggravated assault causing injury, assault causing bodily injury and abandonment or neglect of a child out of Austin, court records show.
According to an affidavit, Bastrop police responded to a welfare check for a child around midnight Dec. 20. No injuries were initially observed, but the child later disclosed details of an incident in a forensic interview Jan. 6.
In the interview, the child said the defendant previously choked other girls and described a physical struggle over a phone while she was speaking with her mother.
According to the affidavit, Montoya put his hand in the child’s mouth and pressed down on her jaw before throwing and breaking the phone, then put his hands around the child’s neck.
Montoya was arrested by Bastrop police Jan. 15 and remains in the Bastrop County Jail in lieu of posting a $350,000 bond.
He also faces charges of theft of a firearm, possession with intent to deliver a controlled substance and unlawful possession of a firearm from 2024 out of Comal County.
