A Missoula man is facing a felony charge stemming from allegations that he filmed a teenage girl undressing without her knowledge.
Jonathan Partain is charged with one felony count of sexual abuse of children involving a victim under the age of 16 and one misdemeanor count of surreptitious visual observation or recording in a residence. If convicted, Partain faces a possible maximum sentence of 100 years in the Montana State Prison.
Partain has not yet entered a plea to the charges. His arraignment date is scheduled for Dec. 12.
Charging documents filed in Missoula County on Nov. 22 allege that in August, a teenager told officials one month prior she was changing when she noticed a cellphone propped up on a speaker system Partain installed earlier in the day.
She noticed it was recording a video.
“(The teenager) stated she was in a state of complete undress within the video,” Missoula County Deputy Attorney Mark Handelman wrote in the affidavit.
Partain was confronted by the girl and an adult. According to the affidavit, he admitted to purposely recording her while she was changing without her knowledge.
Detectives interviewed Partain in August about the allegations.
Partain told investigators he installed the stereo in the girl’s bedroom. He activated his phone’s video recording via a smart watch that was connected to the device, according to charging documents.
“Partain stated he was ‘completely at fault for all of it,’” Handelman wrote.
The case was filed directly into Missoula County District Court last week. Partain is not currently in custody.
He previously served as the CEO and chairman of the Missoula Boxing Club (MBC).
In an emailed statement to the Missoulian on Tuesday, the club’s executive director said the group was devastated to learn about the charges and allegations against Partain.
“Given the nature of the charges, the board made the urgent decision to immediately remove Jonathan Partain from the positions he held at MBC,” Executive Director Megan Worden wrote. “We were informed by law enforcement that this did not involve anyone at MBC, nor did anything occur on MBC grounds. Missoula Boxing Club is moving forward and remains committed to our mission and our students.”