Man charged with sex trafficking, attempted murder
A task force that combats human trafficking has arrested a man who police say kidnapped and beat a woman while forcing her to work as a prostitute.
Leonardo Fields, 39, of Las Vegas, was booked at the Clark County Detention Center on charges of first-degree kidnapping, sex trafficking of an adult, assault with use of deadly weapon, attempted murder and battery by strangulation.
Fields’ arrest dates to the afternoon of Aug. 14 when an officer was flagged down by a woman in the area of 28th Street and Charleston Boulevard, Las Vegas police said. The woman said she had met Fields in March after posting an ad on a website commonly used to facilitate prostitution. The woman met with Fields assuming he was going to pay her for sex. Instead, he said he was a “pimp” and he wanted her to work for him, according to an arrest report for Fields.
At first she agreed, but then said she was beaten and abused over a period of months. She said she was strangled, threatened with a firearm and forced to sit naked on the floor in an apartment for hours.
“Fields has beat (the accuser) numerous times,” police said. “He usually would slap or punch her in her body. He told her he would try to avoid punching her in the face because it would interfere with his money if she had facial injuries. But sometimes, he would still punch her in the face.”
Fields was arrested by Las Vegas detectives assigned to the Southern Nevada Human Trafficking Task Force. He would not speak with investigators. A preliminary hearing in the case is scheduled for Tuesday. Fields was in custody as of Monday morning.
Contact Glenn Puit by email at gpuit@reviewjournal.com. Follow @GlennatRJ on Twitter.
