Convicted murderer accused of raping underage relative
Jesse Rolen Curtis. (Photo courtesy the Flathead County Sheriff's Office)
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 an out-of-state 2004 second-degree murder conviction, now faces a felony count of sexual intercourse without consent in Flathead County District Court. Booked into the county jail Dec. 10, Curtis remains behind bars with bail set at $150,000.
He is expected to appear before Judge Danni Coffman on Jan. 16 for his arraignment.
Flathead County Sheriff's Office deputies began investigating Curtis after the rape allegations were phoned into the Montana Child Abuse Hotline and the victim went to authorities in Hill County, court documents said. 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 Aug. 25.
Authorities forensically interviewed the victim in late September, learning she was in the Flathead Valley over the summer while her grandfather underwent surgery. While there, she met Curtis, who is the son of her step-grandmother, court documents said.
The victim told authorities that Curtis ogled her during her July stay in the valley and began messaging her on Instagram after she went back home for a few weeks. During her return trip to the valley in August, Curtis began spending a significant amount of time with her, court documents said. He later groped her and beginning on Aug. 25 raped her, court documents alleged.
The victim told authorities that he raped her three times that she was aware of, according to court documents. Curtis knew she was a minor, 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 life imprisonment and a fine of up to $50,000.
News Editor Derrick Perkins can be reached at 758-4430 or dperkins@dailyinterlake.com.