Former Mass. judge files petition to FBI to investigate Harmony Montgomery case
On Tuesday, former Judge Carol Erksine submitted the complaint to the FBI's office in Bedford, New Hampshire, requesting a civil rights investigation into the state's Division of Children, Youth and Families (DCYF) 'and those involved in Harmony's case,' according to a press release Erksine shared on LinkedIn.
'The complaint alleges that DCYF, through deliberate failures and possible falsification of records, willfully deprived Harmony Montgomery, a child with a disability, of her constitutional rights, contributing to the abuse, neglect and homicide she suffered in 2019,' Erksine's statement read.
Erksine, who authored the book 'A Cruel Injustice' about how Massachusetts officials placed Harmony Montgomery in her father's custody, is requesting that the FBI look at the facts and determine if federal civil rights laws were violated.
"The truth as we now know it, is that Harmony was indeed in extreme danger," Erksine wrote in a blog post on her website, The Justice Files, explaining why she filed the petition. 'She would soon become a murder victim by the very person the caller told DCYF was physically abusing her."
In her LinkedIn post sharing the statement about the petition's filing, Erksine wrote about the state of New Hampshire agreeing to pay Harmony Montgomery's mother, Crystal Sorey, $2,250,000 in a settlement in May after she filed a wrongful death lawsuit.
Erksine called it 'a waiver of all liability and wrongdoing, to ensure Harmony DISAPPEARED FOREVER,' in the post.
"The horrifying truth is that she was left without protection from DCYF," Erksine wrote in the blog post. 'Without protection from the state. Without the mandated protection of law enforcement. Without the protection of the Fourteenth Amendment. Harmony was left by DCYF with her abuser who we now know brutally assaulted her. And frankly, she paid with her life just a few short weeks after the state closed the case.'
DCYF took custody of Harmony Montgomery in August 2014, a few months after she was born, due to her mother's substance abuse issues, MassLive previously reported. Harmony Montgomery was moved from her mother's home to her foster parents' home several times in Massachusetts. Months before she died, Adam Montgomery received custody and lived with him and his wife, Kayla Montgomery, in New Hampshire.
At the time of her birth, Adam Montgomery was incarcerated.
On Dec. 7, 2019, while Adam Montgomery and his family were living in their Chrysler Sebring, he hit Harmony in the head, killing her, after she had several bathroom accidents in the car, according to prosecutors. The girl was not reported missing until two years later, in December 2021.
Investigators are still searching for Harmony Montgomery's body, and prosecutors have previously said they believe Adam Montgomery may have dumped a bag with her remains in the Revere/Saugus area.
In May 2024, Adam Montgomery was sentenced to 45 years to life in prison after being convicted of killing Harmony Montgomery. Last August, he was transferred outside of the New Hampshire Department of Corrections system.
A spokesperson for the state's Department of Corrections previously told MassLive that Montgomery was 'in secure custody within a correctional facility outside of the NHDOC system.'
'We are unable to provide any additional information on his location or the reasons for his transfer,' the spokesperson wrote.
WMUR reported that Montgomery was being transferred to a facility in Virginia.
N.H. pays Harmony Montgomery's mother over $2M to settle wrongful death lawsuit
Mass. SJC allows journalist access to Harmony Montgomery audio records
Search for Harmony Montgomery presses on a year after father's conviction
Mass. SJC hears arguments on release of Harmony Montgomery records
Read the original article on MassLive.
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