The ex-convict father of missing seven-year-old Harmony Montgomery has been arrested in New Hampshire on a slew of charges related to her disappearance two years ago, including assault and child endangerment.
Adam Montgomery, 31, was arrested on Tuesday in Manchester on a warrant charging him with one felony count of second-degree assault stemming from a July 2019 beating of his daughter; one misdemeanor charge of interference with custody, and two misdemeanor charges of endangering the welfare of a child.
The Manchester Police Department stated in a press release that despite Montgomery’s arrest, ‘the search for Harmony continues.’
An arrest affidavit obtained by DailyMail.com alleges that Montgomery, who has a history of criminal offenses in two states and drug abuse, punched Harmony in the face and gave her a black eye in July 2021 – just six months after New Hampshire’s child protective services gave him custody of his daughter.
Montgomery’s uncle quoted Adam as telling him of the beating: ‘I bashed her around this house,’ according to the filing.
He also would allegedly spank his daughter on her buttocks, force her to stand in a corner for hours and make her scrub the toilet with her own toothbrush.
Adam Montgomery, 31 (left), the father of missing New Hampshire girl Harmony Montgomery (right), has been arrested on charges of assault, interference with custody and endangering the welfare of a child.
This aerial photo shows police searching the backyard at 77 Gilford Street in Manchester, New Hampshire, on Sunday as part of an investigation into the disappearance of seven-year-old Harmony Montgomery
Montgomery, who was pictured in his booking photo with a teardrop tattoo on his face, was scheduled to be arraigned on Wednesday, but he waived his right to a hearing and was ordered held without bond.
According to the Superior Court Bail order, Montgomery has been placed in what is known in New Hampshire as preventive detention ‘based on clear and convincing evidence that the defendant’s release will endanger the safety of the defendant or of the public.’
Montgomery also has been prohibited from having any contact with Harmony’s mother, or his estranged wife.
Montgomery’s uncle, Kevin Montgomery, told police he reported the assault to the Department of Children of Children Youth and Their Families (DCYF), but it is unclear whether his complaint was ever investigated by the agency. The portion of the affidavit pertaining to that incident has been redacted.
An investigation was launched only after Harmony’s mother, Crystal Sorey, called the Manchester Police Department on November 18, saying that her daughter was missing and that she had not seen her since April 2019 on a FaceTime call.
‘Crystal recalled that [Harmony] seemed frightened,’ according to the affidavit.
Sorey explained that she had lost custody of Harmony in July 2018 because she was a drug addict, and she said that Montgomery also had struggled with substance abuse problems.
Boston 25 reported that Harmony and her younger brother, Jamison, spent their early years in foster care, but that in February 2019, DCYF handed Montgomery custody of his daughter, while her brother was adopted by a TV reporter.
Records cited by the station revealed that Montgomery has a vast criminal history dating back to 2007 in New Hampshire, including charges of burglary, stalking and first-degree assault.
In Massachusetts , he was charged in 2014 with armed robbery and assault with intent to murder during a drug deal, but the charges were later downgraded.
Montgomery (left) is accused of punching Harmony in the face and giving her a black eye in July 2021. Multiple relatives observed the then-5-year-old with the eye injury at the time
Crystal Sorey (right) had lost custody of Harmony in 2018 because of her drug addiction
Beginning on December 27, police in Manchester made repeated attempts to track down Montgomery and other family members to establish the last time Harmony was seen.
Three days later, a detective interviewed Montgomery’s brother, Michael Montgomery, who raised concerns about Harmony’s safety.
‘Michael recalled that Adam was “super short” with the child, and he learned through other family members that Adam had given [Harmony] a black eye,’ according to the affidavit.’
On New Year’s Eve, Montgomery’s uncle, Kevin Montgomery, told police that has not seen his nephew or Harmony since late 2019.
‘However, Kevin had first-hand knowledge of the child’s eye injury from 2019,’ the court document alleges.
The uncle told police that he returned to Manchester in July 2019 after a trip to Florida and observed Harmony with a black eye, prompting his call to DCYF.
A relative claimed Montgomery would spank Harmony, put her in the corner for hours and make her scrub the toilet with her own toothbrush. The girl was described as looking ‘frightened’ during an April 2019 sighting
Kevin Montgomery said that Adam told him that he had punched Harmony, saying of the incident: ‘I bashed her around this house.’
According to the uncle, Montgomery explained to him that he had left Harmony, then aged 5, in charge of her infant brother while he was in the bathroom.
When the baby started crying, Montgomery said he came out of the bathroom to find Harmony with her hand clamped over her brother’s mouth to stop him from crying.
‘Adam told Kevin that he responded by striking [Harmony] in the face and causing the black eye,’ according to the affidavit.
The uncle told police he believed his nephew had relapsed on drugs around that time. He also recalled Harmony being spanked, forced to stand in the corner for hours, ‘and Adam ordering [her] to scrub the toilet with her toothbrush.’
On the same day, detectives interviewed Montgomery’s ex-wife, Kayla Montgomery, who shares three children with him.
The woman told police she had last seen Harmony sometime in November of December 2019.
‘Adam said that he was driving [Harmony] back to Crystal who was living in Lowell, MA, at the time,’ the affidavit states, referring to the girl’s birth mother. ‘Kayla claimed she never saw, or heard about [Harmony] after that day.’
Hours later, police found Montgomery sleeping with his girlfriend in a car parked near Harvell Street in Manchester.
‘During our roadside interview with Adam, he made some contradictory statements during our interaction which raised our suspicion and concern for [Harmony’s] well-being,’ police stated in the filing.
Montgomery initially told a detective that his daughter was ‘fine’ and he had seen her somewhat recently. But as the conversation progressed, the 31-year-old allegedly admitted that he had not seen Harmony since he claimed her mother came to pick her up around Thanksgiving 2019.
Detectives repeatedly pressed Montgomery on Harmony’s whereabouts, to which he was said to have replied, ‘I have nothing else to say’ and ‘If I’m not under arrest, I’m leaving.’
The arrest came a day after Manchester police set up a tip line and offered cash rewards totaling $33,000 for information leading to Harmony’s safe return.
Harmony was reported missing only last week, more than two years after her last sighting.
Her mother, Crystal Sorey, has taken to Facebook to claim that she has filed dozens of claims of abuse and neglect while her daughter was in the custody of her father.
Manchester Police Chief Allen Aldenberg said at a press conference on Monday that his agency was notified last week that Harmony was last seen at a home in Manchester in October 2019, when she was 5.
Aldenberg said police are operating under the assumption that Harmony is alive, ‘until somebody shows me something that she’s not.’
When asked why it took so long for her to be reported missing, he replied: ‘That’s what we’re trying to get to the bottom of.’
‘If there was some flaw in the system: Where was it and how is it going to be addressed?’ Aldenberg added after refusing to answer any more questions about the police’s conversations with the DCYF.
Harmony, right, pictured with her younger brother, Jamison, was last seen in October 2019, but she was reported missing only in December 2021
Harmony was described as four-feet tall and weighs 50-pounds. She has blonde hair, blue eyes and wears glasses because she is blind in her right eye
Harmony was last enrolled in school in Massachusetts in 2019, according to the police chief, but detectives don’t know in which town.
Harmony’s uncle told Boston station WBTS that he reported an unspecified incident involving Harmony to the New Hampshire DCYF back in July or August of 2019.
The unnamed uncle did not reveal any specifics about the incident.
Harmony is described as being 4ft tall and weighing 50lbs. She has blonde hair, and blue eyes and is said to be wearing glasses due to being blind in her right eye. The last photographs taken of Harmony are from two years ago.
Aldenberg said that officers searched Adam Montgomery’s former home at 77 Gilford Street on Sunday, according to New Hampshire Union Leader.
Harmony’s mother, Crystal Sorey (left), claimed she had filed dozens of abuse and neglect reports involving her daughter prior to her disappearance