swastika_teens.jpg

Left to right: Jess Taylor, Jenna Montgomery, Blue Kalmbach

(Multnomah County Department of Community Justice)

Three teenagers accused of luring a 16-year-old boy to a shed behind a Southeast Portland house and torturing him earlier this month entered not guilty pleas Wednesday in Juvenile Court to a 19-count indictment.

Jenna Jean Montgomery, 15, Blue Christian Kalmbach, 15, and Jess Taylor, 17, are accused of assaulting the 16-year-old with a crowbar and a BB gun and carving a swastika into his forehead as they demanded he give them a skateboard, money and his iPad, according to prosecutor Christopher Ramras.

Each of the teens charged in the indictment was led into court separately, dressed in juvenile detention's khaki pants, green T-shirts and socks and slippers. They showed little emotion. Several family members attended the brief hearings.

Multnomah County Circuit Judge Diana I. Stuart ordered each teen not to have any contact with the 16-year-old, either in person or by phone, email or any social media. She set a trial date for April 3.

The assault occurred on Feb. 10 behind a home in the 3200 block of Southeast 111th Ave., police said.

The grand jury's indictment charges the teenagers with six counts of second-degree assault, three counts of first-degree kidnapping, four counts of conspiring to commit first-degree kidnapping, one count of first-degree robbery, four counts of unlawful use of a weapon and one count of fourth-degree assault.

The indictment called for each teen's bail to be raised from $800,000 to $2.9 million.

A fourth teenager, 14-year-old Shane Connell, was arrested and accused of second-degree assault, first-degree kidnapping, criminal conspiracy to commit first-degree kidnapping and first-degree robbery. He'll be prosecuted in Juvenile Court while his co-defendants will be prosecuted as adults on the Measure 11 offenses.

The 16-year-old boy told police he was lured to the shed by Montgomery, a David Douglas High School student, whom he had met up with earlier that day.

He told police he was invited to meet the girl at Southeast 122nd Avenue and Powell Boulevard, Ramras said. When he did, she then walked him to a nearby home and he followed her into the shed in the backyard.

There, he was confronted by three boys.

He said he was struck in the back of the head with a silver crowbar once he entered the shed and ordered to take off his shirt.

Kalmbach is accused of shooting the boy in the chest, the groin and index finger with a BB gun. Kalmbach is then accused of using a box cutter to carve a "swastika-shaped insignia'' into the boy's forehead, according to a probable cause affidavit.

When the 16-year-old questioned what his attackers wanted, they demanded he return with a skateboard and money, the affidavit said. They rifled through his pockets and stole his iPod, the papers said.

The boy was taken to OHSU Hospital for treatment.

Police found the suspects at 3266 S.E. 111th Ave., Ramras said.

The 15-year-old girl told investigators that she and the boys had concocted the scheme the night before and that she was to be the "bait'' to lure the 16-year-old boy to the shed, the affidavit said.

"She stated that they had all discussed a plan to lure him over to torture him,'' the affidavit said.

--Maxine Bernstein