Sexual assault suspect threatened child’s life, police say

A man accused in the sexual assault of a child last week told Las Vegas police that he had forced the victim into the acts by threatening his life.

“Do you want to be cut with a knife or be shot by a gun,” Willie Collins, 42, told detectives he had said to the victim, according to his Metropolitan Police Department arrest report.

Additionally, he said his victim, who he allegedly assaulted behind a dumpster, was a “man,” and that he targeted him based on his race and body type, according to the report.

Police said he did not have a weapon.

Collins — who was taken into custody Feb. 24 for the alleged crime earlier that day — remained at the Clark County Detention Center on counts of sexual assault against a child under the age of 16, motivated by bias or hatred toward victim, battery with intent to commit sexual assault, and child abuse, Las Vegas Justice Court records show.

Police said he was identified through the coordinates of his Clark County Detention Center ankle monitor, which was caught on video during the assault near Lamb and Lake Mead Boulevards.

At the time, the 42-year-old suspect was on house arrest for a North Las Vegas burglary with a deadly weapon case in November, police said.

Collins also is a registered sex offender for an open and gross lewdness case from 2017,for which he pleaded guilty to one count of child abuse.

Police said the 14-year-old boy was walking to school Thursday morning when he was intercepted by Collins.

The victim fought back and punched Collins during the attack, but the man punched him back multiple times before the victim ran away, police said.

“Collins stated he inflicted most of the damage,” causing the boy to bleed, the report said.

Police tracked Collins at his nearby home and arrested him about six hours after the attack.

Collins is being held without bail. He is next due in court April 4, according to court records, which do not list his public defender.

Contact Ricardo Torres-Cortez at rtorres@reviewjournal.com. Follow @rickytwrites on Twitter.