Suspect in child sex assaults also threatened wife, report says
A 23-year-old man accused of sexually assaulting children threatened to kill his wife after she found child pornography on his phone and called police in June, according to an arrest report.
As of Friday, Las Vegas police were still searching for Trevon Banks, who fled from house arrest in July. The Metropolitan Police Department on Sept. 17 asked for the public’s help finding Banks, who is wanted in two separate cases on child sexual assault charges, child pornography charges, child abuse or neglect, domestic battery and coercion with force or threat of force.
In one case, he faces two counts of sexual assault of a child under 14, four counts of lewdness with a child under 14, two counts of using or permitting children under 14 to produce pornography, two counts of possessing child pornography and three counts of child abuse or neglect, according to online court records.
All charges appear to stem from an investigation that started June 6, when Banks’ wife called Metro to report that she found child pornography on his phone.
The woman told police the two got in an argument after she found the images, during which Banks held a “homemade knife” to her throat and threatened to kill her, according to Banks’ arrest report.
Court records show that Banks was arrested June 6 and charged with coercion and assault with a deadly weapon.
He was free on bail in that case when prosecutors charged him in the child sexual assault and pornography case. On July 3, detectives were granted a search warrant to photograph Banks in relation to the second case, but on the same day he removed the electronic tracker he wore during house arrest, the report said.
District Court records show that Banks also did not show up for a court appearance on July 3 in the coercion and assault with a deadly weapon case.
The woman told police that when she confronted Banks about the graphic images, he said “he and a group of subjects try to collect the worst child pornography they can find and share it with each other,” the report said.
Detectives found pornography images of Banks’ that appeared to show him in the pictures. According to the report, the alleged sex crimes took place between October 2015 and June.
During the investigation, detectives also determined that for at least a year Banks kept his wife’s children from attending school or leaving the apartment, the report said. Witnesses also reported seeing or hearing Banks hit the children or abuse the family’s dog.
As of Friday night it did not appear that Banks had been arrested, according to court and jail records.
Anyone with information on Banks’ whereabouts may contact Metro’s sexual assault section at 702-828-3421 or, to remain anonymous, Crime Stoppers at 702-385-5555.
Contact Katelyn Newberg at knewberg@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0240. Follow @k_newberg on Twitter.