The latest victim is the seventh person to accuse 16-year-old Palo Verde High School student Maysen Melton of sexual assault.
On Thursday, Maysen appeared before a judge for the first time since a grand jury indictment him on 23 felony charges last week. The judge more than doubled Melton’s bail after learning about new allegations that he reportedly sexually assaulted a classmate while he was previously out of police custody and on house arrest.
Questions remain as to why Maysen was allowed to go to school during that time.
“I have not seen a more prolific sex offender starting in elementary school, allegedly, in my whole career,” said Judge Jennifer Togliatti, Clark County District Court.
Judge Togliatti made it clear she believes the teen poses a danger to the community.
“I’m concerned that someone walking past his house is at risk,” Judge Togliatti said.
While in court Thursday, Prosecutor Kristina Rhoades told the judge about another victim.
“He groped another victim, groped her breasts, tried to put her hands down his pants, similar to what he did to some of the other victims in this case,” Rhoades said.
Rhoades says the latest incident happened at Peterson Behavioral School between October and November of 2017.
In June of the same year, Maysen was placed under house arrest because he was accused of sexually assaulting six Shadow Ridge High school classmates.
“The defense mentioned that he was going to be homeschooled at the hearing; that’s in the transcript that was attached to the state’s counter-motion,” said Rhoades.
Meanwhile, Maysen’s defense attorney argued that despite the new allegations, his client stayed out of trouble during the eight months he was under house arrest.
“He had zero problems attending school; zero problems with his house arrest officer,” said Ozzie Fumo, Maysen’s defense attorney.
Prosecutors plan to file more charges against Maysen Melton, but first, the charges will have to go through the juvenile system. The judge sided with Rhoades and increased Maysen’s bail from $200,000 to half a million dollars.
During the hearing, the 16-year-old didn’t say much. He only answered the judge’s questions about not having contact with witnesses and victims in the case.
(Story from LasVegasNow.com)
