LAS VEGAS (KTNV) — A teenager who sexually assaulted and tried to kill his therapist during a counseling session at Spring Mountain Youth Camp several years ago has been sentenced.
I first broke the story of the violent attack on Mount Charleston in 2022.
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Last week, Tavari Pearson was charged as an adult. However, he was 15 years old when he attacked and nearly killed his therapist during an outdoor counseling session at the camp, which is a county residential facility for juvenile offenders where Pearson was in custody for another offense.
Court records show the therapist saw Pearson for about four months in 2022. On the day of the attack, he told her he was upset that he'd been kicked off his high school track team, so she suggested they take a walk outside.
"She doesn't remember much. Thank goodness, in a sense," the victim's attorney, Robert Murdock, told me in April. "On the other hand, she knows what she woke up to. She was basically left to die in a ravine and, thank God, she was found."
Murdock is representing the victim, who hasn't been publicly identified, in a civil lawsuit against Clark County, alleging Pearson was too dangerous to be at the camp in the first place because he had sexually assaulted someone before. In the lawsuit, the therapist also claims she was kept in the dark about his history.
The lawsuit says Pearson pushed his therapist to the ground, pinned her down, tried to kiss her, knocked a walkie-talkie out of her hands, and began to beat and strangle her.
"Then, he took a rock and hit her head. She's got fractures all over her face," Murdock said in April. "And ultimately, he sexually assaulted her. This is something that's so dangerous and so out of the norm for youth that it's scary."
Pearson was originally charged with:
- Battery with a deadly weapon resulting in bodily harm
- Attempted battery with intent to commit sexual assault
- Sexual assault with a deadly weapon
- Attempted sexual assault
- Two counts of attempted murder, including one with use of a deadly weapon
- Coercion
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We count on our Nevada judges to hold criminals accountable — ensuring community safety and proper sentencing — especially for crimes as violent as this one. But in this case, those who have been in Clark County's legal community for decades say the system didn't work as Las Vegas locals might expect.
Pearson took a plea deal, which resulted in him being found guilty of only two charges: attempted sexual assault and attempted battery with intent to commit sexual assault.
On Dec. 4, the prosecutor asked the court for a sentence of eight to 20 years in prison. However, Judge Erika Ballou sentenced Pearson to just six months behind bars, followed by five years of probation, with credit for the two and a half years that he has already served.
Former District Attorney David Roger wasn't involved in the case, but read the details and reviewed the plea deal Pearson took.
"This was a very difficult case to read about. I mean, this guy was a savage. I don't care if he was 15 years old or 16. What he did to this lady was terrible and tragic," Roger told me. "Everybody draws justice differently. I'm sure that the judge was swayed by the fact that the defendant had mental health issues and was 15 years old. As a former prosecutor, I draw the line differently. He crossed the line in this case. And from my perspective, prison time would have been appropriate."
Pearson's attorney—a Clark County public defender—asked the court for six months at the Clark County Detention Center until Pearson turns 18. That's when he'll enter a program at Desert Regional Center — a state agency that serves people with developmental disabilities. The attorney argued that Pearson would not be able to get counseling in prison.
"Yet, he committed this crime in the midst of a counseling session," I brought up to Roger.
"The criminal justice system looks at a lot of different factors," Roger said. "There's rehabilitation, but from my perspective, when you commit a crime that is this violent and has affected a lady — an innocent person —punishment should be the focus in this and not whether the person can be rehabilitated."
WATCH: Spring Mountain Youth Camp established to reform and restore troubled youth
In the court record, the "Court expressed it wanted people to get help."
I asked Roger how common it is to see the state ask for a significant sentence and the judge sides with what the defense wants.
"Judge Ballou is a former public defender. I think she sees things a little differently than others," Roger said. "There will be a lot of people who will disagree with this sentence."
Pearson's probation does come with special conditions.
He's on the court's Only Chance list. He will have a curfew and be required to work, go to school or complete regular community service. The court also ordered a special sentence of lifetime supervision, and Pearson must register as a sex offender.