Jessup has preliminary hearing in Las Vegas on sexual assault charges – The Daily Reporter

HANCOCK COUNTY – John D. Jessup, the Hancock County commissioner accused of sexually assaulting a woman in a January incident, was back in a Las Vegas courtroom Thursday morning for a preliminary hearing on the charges against him.

Jessup, 49, of Shirley, has been incarcerated at the Clark County Jail in Las Vegas since being transferred to the Las Vegas area in June after police say he sexually assaulted a woman following a night of drinking at a Las Vegas hotel.

According to court records from the Las Vegas Township Regional Justice Center’s 12th Court, Jessup and his attorney appeared before Magistrate Diana L. Sullivan on July 11 for a preliminary hearing, which also included a side-examination.

According to court records, during the side-hearing, Jessup’s defense attorney asked the court to adjourn the case so that both sides could try to work together toward negotiations or a settlement, which was done at the defense’s request.

The judge granted the request for a stay of release, leaving bail unchanged after previously being set at a total of $100,000, court records show. If Jessup, who has been incarcerated in Clark County since his June 14 transfer, can raise the funds, he would still be considered a “high-level” release, meaning he would have to be subject to electronic monitoring and other restrictions, including a no-contact order to protect the victim.

According to court documents, the restraining order, which was issued in late June, expires on September 26 of this year. Jessup is scheduled to appear in court again on Thursday, July 25, at 7:30 a.m. MST, where officials will discuss a possible trial.

Sexual assault is considered a Class A felony in Nevada, the state’s most serious crime. According to state law, sexual penetration by force or without lawful consent is illegal. The sentence for a sexual assault conviction depends on several factors, including the age of the victim, whether the victim was injured, and the defendant’s criminal history. According to Las Vegas law, the maximum sentence for forced sexual penetration or sexual penetration without the capacity to consent is life imprisonment with the possibility of parole after 10 years.

Jessup was still listed as an inmate at the Clark County Jail Friday afternoon.

Officials with the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department said in an official report filed June 8 that the sexual assault on a woman occurred at a Las Vegas hotel after Jessup “poured” alcohol on the woman during a night of drinking in the city in late January.

In the police report, officers quoted Jessup as saying, “What happens in Vegas stays in Vegas” during the night of drinking, gambling and a visit to a strip club. In an interview with Shirley police several months after the alleged incident, Jessup admitted to local officers that he had sexually assaulted the woman. The report went on to say that Jessup did not believe it was a criminal act, but rather the result of a night of drinking.

READ MORE: www.greenfieldreporter.com/2024/06/26/las-vegas-police-release-details-of-jessups-arrest-for-sexual-assault/