Former Bernalillo County firefighter and alleged serial rapist facing new sex charges
Dec. 5—A former Bernalillo County firefighter accused in multiple rape cases since the 1990s — but never convicted of felony charges — is facing another set of allegations.
Celso Montano, 49, of Belen, is charged with promoting prostitution (maintaining a house of prostitution), rape in the third degree and human trafficking. He was booked last week into the Metropolitan Detention Center.
Court records show Montano has been accused in nine rapes or rape attempts dating back to 1996. In two of those cases prosecutors offered him plea deals, dismissing six rape charges, and he was sentenced to probation in one case and 18 months in jail in another.
Two other rape cases against him were dismissed, one because the woman died of an overdose and the other because of issues with the prosecution meeting deadlines and providing information about its case to the defense, according to court records.
In the most recent charges, prosecutors filed a motion to detain Montano until trial.
"(Montano) has a pervasive pattern of violence against women, and he is intent on continuing," according to the motion. "Women have been coming forward regarding sexual assault allegations against Celso Montano for nearly three decades."
The motion said a monthslong investigation by the Bernalillo County Sheriff's Office found Montano had changed his methods.
Over the years, according to the motion, Montano has preyed on at-risk women — who often use drugs and identified as sex workers — offering them money or drugs before raping them.
Initially, prosecutors said, Montano drove his truck through Albuquerque to locate potential victims but, more recently, began using Uber, sex websites and cellphone masking technology to lure the women.
BCSO began the most recent investigation into Montano on July 17 after a sex worker reported a concerning encounter to detectives.
The woman told deputies Montano set up a date with her, ordered an Uber and told her to crawl through an open portion of the fence to his South Valley property, according to a criminal complaint filed in Metropolitan Court. The woman said the yard had a metal shed with an uncovered mattress inside with a "brownish-red substance" on it.
Deputies said the woman told them she left the property and never met with Montano but felt like "he was going to 'hunt' her" and that she also got "'toy box killer' vibes" — referencing infamous New Mexico serial killer David Parker Ray.
BCSO found a similar report from July 2022 in which a sex worker was raped by Montano in the shed on his property, telling her during the encounter it was "just 'role(-)play,'" according to the complaint. The woman's case was closed at the time because of "the inability to gather more information from her."
Deputies said that, in August, another sex worker came forward to report that she had been hired by Montano multiple times, during some of which he requested a "rape scenario." The woman told deputies she had consensual sex with Montano on several occasions but was also raped by him during other meetings.
The woman told deputies that, after the rape, Montano told her she was good at faking being raped and asked if she would help him pick up sex workers in his truck so he could rape them, according to the complaint. The woman said her friend had also met Montano for a date, and he told her he "rapes and murders" women, sometimes "taking women to the Motel 6 and strangling them."
Deputies said Montano had gained a reputation among sex workers as a volatile meth user and would try to "ween" the women off of heroin, locking them in a room until they began withdrawing, then making them smoke meth.
Among the various sex workers who came forward, according to the complaint, detectives identified a trend where Montano repeatedly harassed them with calls and messages, offering them money with no intent to pay, and sexually assault them under the guise of a "rape fantasy" — refusing to stop even when they cried, begged or pleaded.
