Jury convicts Tri-Cities man of sexually abusing a girl for years at a Pasco motel

A 30-year-old man is facing decades in prison after he was convicted of molesting a young girl in Pasco.

A Franklin County jury found Damaso A. Montes guilty of first-degree child rape and two counts of first-degree child molestation after deliberating for about two hours following a six-day trial, according to a news release from the Franklin County Prosecutor’s Office.

He was acquitted of one count of first-degree child rape.

With those convictions, he faces a minimum sentence between 17 and 23 years in prison. When he’s finished with that sentence, a state board will decide if he can be released.

If the board determines that he needs to stay in prison longer, it is possible that he could serve up to life behind bars.

Chief Deputy Prosecutor Maureen Astley said prosecutors could ask for a higher minimum sentence beyond the normal range because the jury found he abused a position of trust and that it was a pattern of abuse.

Sentencing is tentatively scheduled for June 17.

Montes molested and raped the victim for years. First in California and then when her family moved to a Pasco motel room in 2017.

The inappropriate touching continued for the next two years, according to court documents.

The girl said he molested her every couple of days when her mother was out of the room. It stopped in 2019 when the girl’s older siblings moved in with them.

The girl came forward to police in 2023 to report the crimes.

Astley said the delay in reporting sex crimes is not unusual.