December 13 – A 42-year-old convicted murderer staying with his mother outside Columbia Falls is accused of raping an underage relative over the summer.
Jesse Rolen Curtis, who is on probation for a 2004 second-degree murder conviction, now faces a misdemeanor charge of sexual intercourse without consent in Flathead County District Court. Curtis was booked into the county jail on Dec. 10 and remains behind bars on $150,000 bond.
He is expected to appear before Judge Danni Coffman for his arraignment on January 16.
Agents with the Flathead County Sheriff’s Office began investigating Curtis after the rape allegations were called through the Montana Child Abuse Hotline and the victim went to authorities in Hill County, according to court documents. The 15-year-old victim said the sexual abuse occurred while she was visiting her grandfather and step-grandmother in Flathead County between July 27 and August 25.
Authorities forensically interviewed the victim in late September and learned she was in the Flathead Valley this summer while her grandfather underwent surgery. While there, she met Curtis, her step-grandmother’s son, according to court documents.
The victim told authorities that Curtis ogled her during her stay in the Valley in July and began messaging her on Instagram after she went home for a few weeks. During her return trip to the Valley in August, Curtis spent a significant amount of time with her, according to court documents. He later groped her and raped her starting on August 25, court documents allege.
According to court documents, the victim told authorities that he raped her three times, even though she was aware of it. Curtis knew she was underage, she said.
Along with the second-degree murder conviction, Curtis was convicted of assault in 2016, kidnapping in 2002, and drug possession and other drug-related crimes in 1999, according to the affidavit filed in district court by Deputy County Attorney Larissa Malloy.
If convicted of sexual intercourse without consent, Curtis faces up to life in prison and a fine of up to $50,000.
News Editor Derrick Perkins can be reached at 758-4430 or dperkins@dailyinterlake.com.
