Las Vegas sergeant pleads not guilty to child sexual abuse material possession
A Metropolitan Police Department sergeant accused of possessing child sexual abuse material pleaded not guilty Wednesday and is set to face trial in January.
Sgt. Kevin Menon is accused of possessing more than 500 images of young girls exposed and posing in a sexual manner and, in some images, being sexually assaulted, court records show.
He pleaded not guilty to four counts of possession of visual presentation depicting sexual conduct of a child.
In a separate case, Menon is accused of illegally detaining people on the Las Vegas Strip in what police called a “pattern of unlawful detentions.”
In hearings spanning October and November, a grand jury was shown images found on Menon’s computer, according to transcripts of the hearings.
Menon waived his right to a trial within 60 days, but Chief Deputy District Attorney Christopher Hamner asked District Judge Ronald Israel for a speedy trial instead, given the “severity of the charges.”
Nevada state law allows prosecutors to demand that a trial take place within 60 days.
“The need for experts in this case is overwhelming, and there is no way we would be able to get it done within 60 days,” Dominic Gentile, Menon’s attorney, said in court Wednesday.
The judge set trial for Jan. 21.
Gentile told the Las Vegas Review-Journal that he plans on filing a motion to get the trial pushed back. “There’s no way we could be ready,” he said.
Contact Estelle Atkinson at eatkinson@reviewjournal.com. Follow @estellelilym on X and @estelleatkinson.bsky.social on Bluesky.
