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Former deputy arrested for bail violation in sex abuse of children case

Posted at 6:00 PM, Apr 03, 2019
and last updated 2019-04-03 23:47:39-04

GREAT FALLS – Virgil Allen Wolfe, the former Lewis and Clark County Sheriff’s deputy facing 80 counts of sexual abuse of children, was arrested Tuesday for a bail violation.

Wolfe was arrested for violating a bail condition that he avoid all contact with any alleged victim or potential prosecution witness.

Court documents state Wolfe called authorities on March 29 from the residence of one of the alleged victims and said he had tried to harm himself.

Virgil Allen Wolfe
Courtesy: Cascade County Detention Center

He also reported “there were people inside the residence, but he was not trying to wake them.”

When deputies arrived, Wolfe told them he knew he wasn’t supposed to be there due to his bail conditions, according to court documents.

Wolfe was first arrested in February and charged with 80 counts of sexual abuse of children.

The Cascade County Sheriff’s Office started investigating in June of 2017 after the victim disclosed the alleged abuse to a counselor. The victim said the abuse started when she was a young child living in Helena.

In court documents, the victim said the abuse continued into her teens and while she was living in Cascade County. The victim said Wolfe told her not to tell anyone.

During the investigation, deputies discovered Wolfe was a deputy for the Lewis and Clark County Sheriff’s Office in the late 1990s.

They also sent several electronic items to the Department of Homeland Security for forensic analysis.

According to court documents, agents found hundreds of photographs of children in various stages of undress on the electronic items.

His bail was set at $500,000 Wednesday.

More details released about former deputy’s arrest on dozens of child sex abuse charges