LAS VEGAS (KTNV) — A Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department sergeant appeared in court Thursday morning for the first time after his arrest on charges of possession of child sexual abuse material.
Channel 13's Jaewon Jung was in the courtroom where Sgt. Kevin Menon appeared in shackles and a Clark County Detention Center uniform.
Metro Sgt. Kevin Menon in shackles and a CCDC uniform.
— Jaewon Jung (@jaewonnews) October 24, 2024
He’s in court for the first time on his possession of child porn charges.@KTNV pic.twitter.com/Z3l9FFZ1fi
Prosecutor Nick Portz argued Menon should stay behind bars and asked for $250,000 cash bail. Portz said detectives not only found child sexual abuse images but related search terms as well. Prosecutors said Menon also tried to destroy evidence from one of the laptops.
Dominic Gentile, Menon's attorney, said this isn't about whether his client will “show up,” and there is no issue with that. He said Menon was arrested in the courthouse on Wednesday because he was there on a different case, which shows he’s not a flight risk.
But prosecutor Chris Hamner said Menon "whether at work or play, was committing crimes." Hamner said Menon’s LVMPD work phone wasn’t seized during his first arrest — and when they did collect the phone, all the data was wiped.
Hamner believes Menon is not just a flight risk, but a risk to himself because of the "stain" that comes with all of this.
Gentile claims Menon called him at 9:41 a.m. Wednesday and told him “I have a tail behind me” and knew he would be arrested. He asked the court for $10,000 bail and said Menon wouldn’t try to skip court or take his own life.
Judge Nadia Wood said she was balancing the serious nature of the allegations and the fact that Menon was entrusted with power in the community as a sergeant for LVMPD. Wood said she found the allegations "very concerning" and set a $100,000 cash bail.
We’re back on record.
— Jaewon Jung (@jaewonnews) October 24, 2024
Prosecutor Nick Portz argues Menon should stay behind bars and asks for $250k cash bail.
Portz says detectives not only found child porn related images, but search terms. They said he also tried to destroy evidence from one of the laptops.@KTNV pic.twitter.com/JZZl1KCxyb
Meanwhile, Menon has invoked his right to a preliminary hearing, which is set for Thursday, Nov. 7 at 10 a.m.
Menon was previously indicted by a Clark County grand jury on charges related to abuse of police powers, including oppression, subornation of perjury and battery on a protected person. He's accused of orchestrating arrests while working as a plainclothes officer on the Las Vegas Strip.
Body-worn camera footage obtained by Channel 13 showed the alleged illegal arrests for which Menon is under investigation. In the videos we reviewed, several individuals express confusion about their arrests, including one who said he was being "set up" and another who alleged he was being arrested on "false pretenses."
During a search on Aug. 30 as part of the first investigation, detectives came across sexual images of young girls on two of Menon's devices, according to the arrest report issued on the child sexual abuse material charges.
Jaewon Jung will continue tracking this case, so check back for updates.
