A 25-year-old man wanted in Georgia on a felony charge of child molestation was arrested Wednesday morning after Cook County Sheriff's officers staked out a home in Chicago's Marquette Park neighborhood and stopped the car he was riding in. Jalynn Montgomery is now being held in Cook County Jail while he awaits extradition to Georgia.
According to the Cook County Sheriff's Office, the arrest capped an investigation launched by the office's Fugitive Apprehension Unit with help from the U.S. Marshals Great Lakes Regional Fugitive Task Force. The Savannah, Georgia Police Department wanted Montgomery for allegedly sending an obscene photo of himself to a child, and the U.S. Marshals Southeast Fugitive Task Force reached out to Cook County officers on July 29 asking for help tracking him down. As reported by FOX 32 Chicago, the residence under watch sat in the 6600 block of South Rockwell Street, in Marquette Park on Chicago's South Side.
Surveillance Leads to a Traffic Stop
Cook County Sheriff's officers set up surveillance near the Rockwell Street home on Wednesday, working off information that Montgomery may have lived there and may have driven a 2014 Chevrolet Captiva. That morning, officers watched the Captiva head toward the home's garage, according to the sheriff's office. They stopped the vehicle and found Montgomery in the passenger seat, taking him into custody without incident.
The Southeast Fugitive Task Force, which initiated the request to find Montgomery, operates out of five Georgia offices including Savannah and has apprehended more than 45,700 fugitives since it launched in June 2003, per the U.S. Marshals Service. The Great Lakes task force that assisted Cook County officers was created in 2003 under the Presidential Threat Protection Act of 2000 and partners with more than 90 federal, state and local agencies across Illinois, Indiana and Wisconsin.
What Montgomery Faces in Georgia
Under Georgia Code O.C.G.A. § 16-6-4, transmitting immoral or indecent images to a child under 16 via an electronic device with sexual intent is classified as felony child molestation, carrying a statutory prison sentence of 5 to 20 years and mandatory sex offender registration upon conviction, according to Justia Law. The sheriff's office notes that defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law, and the charge against Montgomery remains an allegation at this stage.
Montgomery will not be transferred to Georgia immediately. Under Illinois' Uniform Criminal Extradition Act, out-of-state fugitives arrested in the state are held in county custody until they either waive formal extradition or the demanding state secures a Governor's Warrant authorizing physical transfer. For now, Montgomery remains in Cook County Jail while that process plays out.
Part of a Broader Pattern of Cross-State Arrests
This is not an isolated case for Cook County's Fugitive Apprehension Unit. Hoodline reported a similar Rosemont arrest earlier this month, in which the same unit and the Great Lakes task force apprehended a man wanted in Ohio on child obscenity charges. In May, Cook County deputies and federal marshals tracked a Nevada fugitive to suburban Melrose Park using pre-dawn vehicle surveillance much like the operation that led to Montgomery's arrest.
The U.S. Marshals Service has pointed to broader enforcement trends behind these local operations. A 2022 initiative dubbed Operation Chicago Shield resulted in 148 arrests in the Chicago area, including 133 warrants executed for child or adult sex offenses. Nationwide, agency-led fugitive task forces arrested more than 73,300 people and cleared over 87,900 warrants during fiscal year 2025, the Marshals Service reported.
Public records also show Montgomery had a prior brush with Illinois law enforcement. Shaw Local reported that in September 2018, an 18-year-old Jalynn Montgomery of Chicago was arrested by New Lenox police and booked into Will County Jail on a felony retail theft charge after allegedly stealing more than $2,500 worth of merchandise from a Walmart. That case predates the current Georgia charge and involved a separate, unrelated allegation.
