By Crystal Faldalen
A Havre man accused of sexually molesting a young girl has violated the conditions of his release from jail and can't be found, Havre police said.
Charles L. Nottingham, who is charged with felony sexual assault, hasn't been seen since sometime in June, police said. They have issued a warrant for his arrest.
Nottingham, 60, was formerly employed at Northern Montana Hospital and Northern Montana College in Havre. He was most recently employed at Fort Belknap Community College. He has occasionally contributed an outdoors column to the Havre Daily News.
Nottingham was arrested by the Havre Police Department on June 12 and two days later formally charged by the Hill County Attorney's Office with felony sexual assault. A $50,000 bond was placed on Nottingham at that time.
According to Hill County Justice Court documents, Nottingham is accused of subjecting an 8-year-old girl to sexual contact.
The documents state that on June 11, a social worker from the Department of Public Health and Human Services in Havre contacted police and reported a sexual assault on the girl.
Court documents said that during a police interview the social worker said the girl had informed him the assault took place between June 8 and June 10 during a stay at Nottingham's Havre residence.
According to the documents, the social worker reported that the girl told him she slept nude with Nottingham in his bed on both nights of her stay. She said Nottingham was watching "sexual movies" and holding her close. She said he "put his private part on (her) hip" and told her to go to sleep, the court documents said.
On June 20, Nottingham was released from jail under several conditions. The conditions included that Nottingham remain in contact with his attorney and remain at a residence in Blaine County. Conditions also stated that Nottingham was not to travel out of Blaine County, other than to see his attorney, without first obtaining a travel permit from the Hill County Attorney's Office.
According to court documents, Nottingham violated the conditions by traveling to Billings. On June 23, his vehicle was found on a street in Billings and contained a written threat indicating that he was going to harm himself and his accusers.
The documents also state that on June 25, Nottingham's attorney told the Hill County Attorney's Office that he had not heard from Nottingham since June 21 and had no way of contacting him. A warrant of arrest was issued for Nottingham on June 25 for violation of the conditions. Bond was set at $50,000.
Officers have been unable to locate Nottingham to serve the warrant. He was most recently seen in Havre, but has reportedly been in the Laurel and Billings areas. Vehicle information is unknown.
Anyone with information on his location is asked to contact the Havre Police Department at 265-4361, Hill County Sheriff's Office at 265-2512 or Crimestoppers at 265-4444.
