Ex-Nevada corrections officer accused of raping 2 young boys

A former Nevada Department of Corrections officer who helped smuggle cellphones and other contraband into High Desert State Prison is now accused of raping two young boys.

Derland Blake, 36, was arrested Aug. 21 on six counts of sexual assault against a child under 14 and one count of lewdness with a child under 14, court records show.

A recently released North Las Vegas Police Department arrest report says Blake is accused of raping two young boys from 2013 to 2015.

Blake refused to speak with police without a lawyer present, according to the report. He recently completed five years’ probation on charges of smuggling contraband into High Desert State Prison, where he worked as a corrections officer.

He pleaded guilty in September 2014 to helping smuggle phones, CDs, chicken and alcohol into the Indian Springs prison. The contraband ultimately ended up with Ammar Harris, a self-proclaimed pimp who was sentenced to death for murder after a Las Vegas Strip shooting that killed three people.

At the time, Blake called the smuggling a “one-time mistake that will never happen again.”

“When you do wrong, you man up,” he said. “You take it on the chin. But then you’ve got to learn from it. If you don’t learn from it, then you’re going to keep making the same mistakes. I learned, and I’m still learning.”

Blake was convicted in November 2017 of attempted abuse, neglect or endangerment of a child, court records show. His probation in that case was reinstated Tuesday.

Blake is expected in court on Dec. 1.

Contact Alexis Ford at aford@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0335. Follow @alexisdford on Twitter.

A previous version of this story incorrectly stated the sentence Harris received and provided incorrect details regarding one of Blake’s prior convictions. It also incorrectly identified the police department that handled the sexual assault arrest.