Las Cruces, NM (KKOB) – A former Doña Ana County sheriff’s deputy is charged with sexual assault and false imprisonment of a woman he met on a dating app. According to court documents, Joshua Benjamin Montelongo, met the woman from Ciudad Juarez on the Facebook Dating app and had started an intimate relationship with her in early December. According to statements, the victim said that on the day of the assault, she had crossed from Juarez and went to Montelongo’s home in Doña Ana County. She said that Montelongo was being very aggressive with her the entire time they were together including at a restaurant they both went to in El Paso. She alleged that he pushed her head down, punched her in the stomach, pinched her chest and her crotch, all while driving. The victim told investigators that she was scared of Montelongo because of how he had been acting, but told him several times she did not want to have sex.
According to the criminal complaint, later that day, while at Montelongo’s home, Montelongo allegedly pinned her down, ripped her clothes off and raped her, after she said she denied his sexual advances. She said she didn’t scream, as she feared Montelongo would hurt her if she did.
The victim then said she left the next morning while Montelongo was asleep, adding that she left the key to his place at a table and then blocked Joshua on Facebook.The investigator who interviewed the victim described seeing bruising on the victim’s chest.
Montelongo was booked into the Dona Ana County Detention Center and charged with two counts of criminal sexual penetration and one count of false imprisonment.
According to jail records, Montelongo was first jailed without bond; however, court records show that on Dec. 22, he was granted a release under a $15,000 bond and conditions that he did not leave Dona ana County and not contact the victim.
The Dona Ana County Sheriff’s Office reports that Montelongo has not worked for their office since April 2025.
