© Photo11: courtesy photoVirgil Allen Wolfe
According to Cascade County Attorney Josh Racki, Virgil Allen Wolfe, 52, will be prosecuted in Cascade County, although the alleged crimes occurred in both Cascade and Lewis and Clark counties.
Virgil currently lives in Cascade County.
The Tribune first learned of Wolfe's arrest via the Cascade County Sheriff's Office Facebook page.
According to charging documents, a detective with CCSO was assigned in June 2017 to investigate a disclosure of sexual abuse by a 17-year-old who claimed that Wolfe had been molesting her since she was 6 years old.
The alleged incidents began in Helena with Wolfe exposing himself and increased in frequency and severity as the girl grew older, then slowed and mostly came to a stop when she was around 14, although she claims the last time Wolfe sexually abused her was two months before she reported him.
The girl also alleged that Wolfe took nude photos of her, using his hobby of pastel painting as justification and uploading the photos to his personal computer.
In a police interview, the alleged victim's mother said she knew that Wolfe had photographed her daughters either in panties and a tank top or topless to "get their contours so he could draw them," the affidavit said.
Comment: And she allowed this?
The woman's other two daughters were questioned and denied any abuse by Wolfe, although images of them in a state of undress were found by police.
When officers contacted Wolfe to request an interview, Wolfe consulted with his attorney and invoked his right to remain silent.
While executing a search warrant, police found a diary written by the alleged victim that referenced molestation by Wolfe.
A diary by the girl's mother was also found where she had written about suspecting abuse by Wolfe as early as 2010.
A report from the Department of Homeland Security on the examination of Wolfe's computers and memory cards identified more than 1,000 images and thumbnails depicting children in various stages of undress and three videos of the alleged victim posing without her clothes on.
The charges Wolfe faces are for 58 total images of the alleged victim at 16 years old, three videos of her at age 15, and 17 images of her at age 13.
Wolfe was arrested on a warrant Thursday with a $100,000 bond, which Racki said he has since posted.
The Independent Record in Helena reported that Lewis and Clark County Sheriff Leo Dutton confirmed that Wolfe was a deputy from 1999 to 2008, when he was fired by previous Sheriff Cheryl Liedle for unrelated issues.
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