Las Vegas teacher arrested on child sex assault charges
A Las Vegas middle school teacher was arrested Wednesday on charges of sexually assaulting a child.
Nicholas Collotta, 40, was booked into the Clark County Detention Center, according to a statement from the Metropolitan Police Department. He faces felony counts of sexually assaulting or exploiting a child under 14 with substantial bodily or mental harm, and lewdness with a child under 14, court records show.
Collotta teaches eighth grade literary studies and seventh grade history at Democracy Preparatory Academy at Agassi Campus, 1201 W. Lake Mead Blvd., according to the school’s website. A photo of Collotta on the school’s website showed him smiling and holding a hat with the school’s emblem.
Investigators believe “there may be additional victims” in the case.
A spokesperson for the school said Collotta was fired Thursday after the school heard of the pending investigation and that the school has not received word from police as to whether the allegations involved a student.
“We are deeply disturbed by these most serious allegations,” the spokesperson said in a statement. “We immediately terminated the individual as the police began their investigation. We will do everything we can to support their investigation. We encourage anyone with any information that can aide the investigators to contact the LVPD. We are here 24/7 to support our scholars, families, and staff at this difficult time.”
The spokesperson said Collotta “passed a complete and full background check” before he was hired.
Further information about Collotta’s arrest was not immediately available. He remained in the detention center on Thursday with $50,000 bail, court records show.
He is scheduled to appear in court on April 29.
Anyone with information about the case can contact Metro’s sexual assault section at 702-828-3421. Anonymous tips can be left with Crime Stoppers at 702-385-5555.
Contact Katelyn Newberg at knewberg@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0240. Follow @k_newberg on Twitter. Review-Journal reporter Sabrina Schnur contributed to this report.
