Florida pastor accused of drugging, sexually assaulting teenage girl inside his church
Photo shows Monte Chitty, a Florida pastor in Marathon who is accused of raping a teenager inside his church after drugging her | Credit: Monroe County Sheriffs Office
MARATHON, Fla. - A Florida pastor was arrested after he allegedly gave a teenage girl spiked alcohol inside his church and sexually assaulted her, deputies said.
Monte Chitty, a 62-year-old pastor of the First Baptist Church in Marathon, was arrested for sexual assault and contributing to the delinquency of a minor, according to a Facebook post.
An anonymous caller reported overhearing a 15-year-old girl tell an adult she'd been raped. The caller told deputies the girl and her grandmother had boarded a dinghy and were headed out into the harbor.
As deputies attempted to find the teen, they received a call from Chitty, who said he believed he was about to be accused of something and wanted to get "ahead of it."
He claimed a young girl at his church had been drinking and passed out on a couch in the library. He said he helped her lie down but did not touch her after that.
When deputies found the teen, she said Chitty gave her alcohol that may have been spiked with something. She said she immediately began to feel weak and quickly lost consciousness. She said she woke up to Chitty touching her inappropriately,
Text messages also revealed that Chitty made references to having sexual relations with the teen while she was impaired.
Chitty, a previously registered volunteer with the sheriff's office, was booked into the Monroe County Jail.