Content warning: Sexual assault, rape

The man charged in the Ravine-Narvik sexual assault case is headed to trial.

After a preliminary hearing held on April 9 by Magisterial District Judge Samuel Pendolino, the case of Montelle Brown, 28, of Meadville is being held for court on all 22 charges against him.

As of March 19, Brown is residing in the State Correctional Institute at Camp Hill serving an unrelated prison sentence, according to online court documents.

Brown was previously held in the State Correctional Institution at Smithfield after pleading guilty to carrying a firearm without a license in the Crawford County Court of Common Pleas last September.

Following the March 5 arraignment, Brown was unable to post bail, set at $500,000, and was confined in the Crawford County Prison, according to online court documents. Pendolino ordered that Brown’s bail be continued.

Brown was previously not connected to the assault, which occured on Dec. 10, 2019, until his DNA was added to the Combined DNA Index System under state law following his conviction in an unrelated crime, according to Crawford County District Attorney Francis Schultz.

“Once his DNA was in CODIS, the lab determined that the DNA found during the sexual assault medical exam was a match to Mr. Brown’s DNA,” Schultz announced in a press release on Feb. 24.“The alleged victim in this case did the right thing when she reported the crime right away.”

The 22 charges include three counts of rape forcible compulsion, two counts of involuntary deviate sexual intercourse, two counts of burglary, two counts of criminal tresspassing, three counts of sexual assault, eight counts of indecent assault and two counts of simple assault.

Brown is currently scheduled to go to trial during the September term of county criminal court, according to the Meadville Tribune.