A Florida Keys pastor who was allegedly on the run after he plied alcohol to a teen and raped her has been arrested in another state, WPLG-TV reports.
On Friday, police took 62-year-old Monte LaVelle Chitty into custody in rural Woodville, Texas, where he had approached a religious group working with the homeless. Someone at the site called law enforcement, prompting Chitty’s arrest.
The church leader failed to appear at a court hearing on Monday 1,300 miles away in Florida, where he is accused of abusing a 15-year-old girl.
Authorities say that in March, an anonymous person contacted police about overhearing a girl who told an adult she had been raped.
The victim later told investigators that Chitty gave her alcohol, she passed out immediately after drinking it and awoke to Chitty molesting her. The girl said the drink might have been spiked, according to NBC 6.
Police also found text messages on phones belonging to Chitty and the victim in which Chitty “made reference to having sexual relations with the girl while she was impaired,” the Monroe County (Florida) Sheriff’s Office said in a press release.
Chitty, who volunteered with the sheriff’s office, claimed that he helped the girl lie down on a couch but did not touch her after she fell asleep.
Prosecutors in March charged Chitty with sexual battery, contributing to the delinquency of a minor, and lewd and lascivious behavior. He was released on a $75,000 bond, but he is now being held on a $1.3 million bond pending extradition back to Florida.
Before moving to Florida, Chitty worked as a pastor and police officer in a remote Alaska town, according to the Anchorage Daily News. In one 2012 incident, Chitty allegedly exchanged disturbing messages with a girl who had been living with him and his family, which prompted locals to buy her a hotel room and a one-way plane ticket so she could escape.
“We got her out because she was scared for her safety,” one Alaska resident told the newspaper.
Chitty’s First Baptist Church in Florida states on its website that Christians should oppose “all forms of sexual immorality, including adultery, homosexuality, and pornography.”
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[Feature Photo: Monte LaVelle Chitty/Monroe County Sheriff’s Office]
