Elizabeth Coast, the woman who admitted to lying about sex crimes that sent Jonathan Montgomery to prison, appeared in Hampton General District Court Thursday morning on a perjury charge.
Coast was appointed an attorney and will appear in court again on November 29.
It is likely that a special prosecutor will be brought in to handle Coast's case.
After her court appearance, she had nothing to say to NewsChannel 3's Todd Corillo who asked, "Do you have anything you want to say to Jonathan Montgomery? To his family? Are you sorry?"
In 2007, Coast told investigators that Jonathan Montgomery had sexually assaulted her 7 years earlier when she was 10 years old and he was 14.
Montgomery was sentenced in 2008 to serve 7.5 years in prison for the crimes based chiefly on Coast's testimony.
However, in October, Coast admitted to investigators that she had made up the story as a way to explain being caught by her parents looking at sexually explicit websites.
Last Friday, Hampton Circuit Court Judge Randolph West vacated the charges against Jonathan Montgomery and ordered him to be released.
That release has been blocked by the Virginia Attorney General's Office who claims that the Hampton Circuit Court did not have jurisdiction to free Montgomery and that a writ of actual innocence must be filed in order to release him.
As a result, Montgomery continues to sit in segregation at the Greensville Correctional Facility awaiting release.
Late Thursday, Montgomery's Public Defender Ben Pavek confirmed that he is filing the writ of actual innocence, even though he still believes the original court order is valid.
Attorney general’s office’s statement on Jonathan Montgomery
Wrongly convicted man remains in jail after Hampton judge orders release
Innocent man stuck in prison days after judge orders release
UPDATE: Woman who accused wrongfully convicted man of sexual assault arrested
