THREE people arrested in alleged Internet kidnapping and sex assault case

Tuesday, August 14th 2001, 12:00 am

By: News On 6

FARMINGDALE, N.Y. (AP) _ A man arranged to meet a 15-year-old girl he had corresponded with on the Internet, then allegedly kidnapped and sexually assaulted her with two other suspects over the course of a week, police say.

Three people _ James Warren, 41, of Hampton Bays; Beth Loschin, 46, of Farmingdale; and Michael Montez, 35, of the Queens section of New York City _ face multiple charges in the case, authorities said Monday.

The teen had been exchanging messages for several months with Warren, and recently told him she wanted to run away from home, Nassau County Detective Lt. Vincent Robustelli said at a news conference Monday. They arranged to meet Aug. 3 at a mall where she worked in Wrentham, Mass., police said.

Warren arrived at the mall with Loschin, police said. The teen got into their car, ``and after about an hour, she knew she was in over her head,'' Robustelli said.

The girl told authorities she was handcuffed much of the time and was kept under constant surveillance. She was taken back and forth between Farmingdale and Hampton Bays, and at one point was taken to Queens, where she was given to Montez for some time, police said.

On Friday night, she was left alone and managed to call a friend and Wrentham police for help, police said. She told police she was on Long Island but didn't know where, and they told her to look for mail in the house to find the address, Robustelli said.

Loschin and Warren were arrested Friday, Nassau County authorities said. Loschin was charged with sodomy and sexual abuse and held on $80,000 bail. Warren was charged with kidnapping, sodomy, rape and sexual abuse and held without bail.

Montez was arrested during the weekend and charged with kidnapping, rape, sodomy, sexual assault and other crimes, said Mary de Bourbon, a spokeswoman for the Queens District Attorney's Office. A judge ordered Montez held without bail after prosecutors said a physical examination of the girl showed evidence of choking and investigators found a rope in his home.

``My client states that the way they've laid it out in the complaint is not the way things transpired,'' Montez's lawyer, Michael Siff, said after the arraignment.