Eureka man charged with sexual assault, solicitation of incest

A Eureka man faces sexual assault charges in Lincoln County District Court after allegedly groping a minor and repeatedly badgering her for sex.

John Kendall Ellis, 35, pleaded not guilty Oct. 18 to solicitation of incest and sexual assault, victim under 16, offender three or more years older or, in the alternative, incest. He picked up a second felony case — and an assault with a weapon charge — after an alleged scuffle with a detention center officer in September.

Eureka Police officers began investigating Ellis in July after the underage victim’s therapist contacted law enforcement. The minor had taken an audio recording of Ellis engaging in sexual harassment, according to court documents.

Police officer Grigori Neils got a copy of the audio, which featured a male voice describing plans for sex after the victim’s mother left the area. The male told the minor “we’ll get condoms” before accusing the girl of being promiscuous and harboring a secret sexual attraction to him, court documents said.

Ellis said he knew the victim was recording him when confronted by Neils, according to court documents. He admitted to participating in the conversation, but accused the minor of editing it.

“…[H]e was trying to tell [the victim] that he didn’t want to do that with her,” reads the affidavit.

Investigators held a forensic interview with the victim, who was a non-blood relative of Ellis, in August. The victim told authorities that Ellis told her in March that he wanted to have sex with her. She alerted a family member, who dismissed the allegation, court documents said.

In another incident, the victim was driving with Ellis in the passenger seat in late spring. Ellis reached over and groped her breast, making vulgar statements aimed at pressuring her into sex, court documents said.

Ellis made similar statements while the two were driving back from a family camping trip in July. Those were the remarks the victim captured in a recording, according to the affidavit.

The sexual assault charge carries a penalty of between four and 100 years — or life — with the Montana State Prison. It includes a fine of up to $50,000. Incest comes with the same punishment. Solicitation of incest is similarly punishable by a $50,000 fine and up to 100 years in prison, but does not carry the minimum sentence of four years behind bars.

Ellis earned his second felony charge after an alleged Sept. 28 fight inside the Lincoln County Detention Center. In an affidavit, Deputy John Hyslop of the Lincoln County Sheriff’s Office recounted heading to the jail to assist a detention center officer, Libby Police officer Jonathan Graham and Montana Highway Patrol Trooper Eric Power with an inmate about 3:37 p.m.

When he arrived, Hyslop found the Graham and the detention center officer holding onto Ellis. Hyslop, according to the affidavit, helped his two colleagues get Ellis into a holding chair. Graham had used his Taser on Ellis, Hyslop wrote, and an EMT was prepared to check him out.

Afterward, Hyslop spoke with the detention officer, who was the victim of the alleged attack. She told the deputy that she entered Ellis’ cell to take away an item. She was worried he was going to hurt himself, court documents said.

Upon her entry, Ellis allegedly pulled down a light cover and came at her. The exposed light cover had several screws sticking out of it and the detention officer thought he intended to hurt her, court documents said. She restrained him until backup arrived on scene.

The officer’s log entry was included in the affidavit. In it, the officer recounted watching Ellis on camera and seeing him with a section of his sheet. Worried that he was looking for places to hang himself, she had another officer take over observation duties. Then she went into the cell and asked Ellis for the sheet.

While he gave her a piece of the cloth, he did not turn over the entire sheet, the officer wrote. When she asked for it, Ellis allegedly instead mounted the sink and began prying the light off the cell’s ceiling. The officer radioed for backup and issued Ellis commands, which he allegedly ignored.

She backed away as he came toward her with the glass light cover, screws extended outward, court documents said. The officer got the door partially shut, but Ellis wedged the light cover in it, keeping her from closing it completely, according to the log entry.

“I held the door closed and he was trying to get it open,” she wrote in the entry. “During this time I was scared he was going to get through the door and hurt me.”

Graham arrived and used his Taser on Ellis, court documents said. The two entered after Ellis was hit, but he had clung on to the light cover. He made another run at the detention officer, according to court documents.

“I was able to take … Ellis to the ground to get the glass away from him,” she wrote. “He grabbed my Taser and I was able to shift my hips so it was out of reach. I was afraid he was going to get my Taser and Tase me.”

While Ellis was unharmed, according to the affidavit, the detention center officer suffered a cut to a finger of her right hand. The rest of her fingers grew sore, as if she had hyper extended them, the officer wrote.

Hyslop interviewed Ellis after the alleged attack. Ellis, he wrote, had no memory of the incident. Ellis told Hyslop he had refused his medication for several days. He remembered being in jail, but not much else, according to court documents. Ellis described waking up sore that morning with no knowledge of why he felt the pain.

When Hyslop filled Ellis in, the other man acted surprised and apologized to the detention officer.

“I told Ellis he was being charged and I would be following up with a citation of his charges,” Hyslop wrote. “Ellis said he understood and apologized again.”

Assault with a weapon is punishable by up to 20 years behind bars and a fine of $50,000. Ellis pleaded not guilty to the charge on Oct. 18 as well.

He is expected back in court for an omnibus hearing Jan. 3 with a pretrial conference scheduled for Feb. 7. Were the case to go to trial, it would start March 15.

To report child abuse or neglect, contact Child and Family Services of the state Department of Public Health and Human Services at 1-866-820-5437. Victims of sexual violence can call the National Sexual Assault Telephone Hotline at 800-656-4673.