A California pastor who once led a civil rights nonprofit has been convicted of assault after his girlfriend allegedly walked in on him with another woman — and the confrontation turned violent.
The Rev. Ray Montgomery, 59, was convicted of misdemeanor assault in connection with the June 6, 2024, attack on his 44-year-old girlfriend in San Jose, according to the Santa Clara County District Attorney’s Office.
Prosecutors said the woman showed up at Montgomery’s home and knocked on the door. When the pastor answered, he was reportedly in his underwear — and another woman was inside the house.
That discovery quickly set off an argument, according to reports, and the clash soon turned physical.
Montgomery allegedly picked the woman up, dragged her down a hallway, and squeezed her neck between his forearm and bicep. The woman temporarily lost consciousness during the attack, prosecutors said.
When she came to, she ran from Montgomery, locked herself inside a bathroom, and called a friend to come get her.
The woman later went to a hospital with bruising on her neck and reported the alleged assault to police. She also accused Montgomery of trying to intimidate her into dropping the complaint and claimed he had been abusive on other occasions.
Before he was criminally charged, Montgomery filed a lawsuit claiming his girlfriend was actually the aggressor and that he had been trying to “defuse the situation,” according to the Mercury News. In that filing, Montgomery reportedly said the woman had come to his home “uninvited” while he was “entertaining a female friend.”
That lawsuit was put on hold while the criminal case moved forward.
Montgomery previously served as the executive director of People Acting in Community Together, a civil rights organization that helps immigrants and low-income families. He stepped down from that role after the allegations surfaced.
Santa Clara County District Attorney Jeff Rosen praised the conviction and made clear that his office stood behind the victim.
“We believe domestic violence victims,” Rosen said in a statement. “Lawsuits and lying will never stop us from seeking justice for those who are hurt by their partners.”
Montgomery is scheduled to be sentenced on Sept. 8.
