Ex-CCSD teacher to be held on $500K bail in sexual assault case

A pastor and former elementary school teacher will be held on $500,000 bail following his extradition to Nevada on numerous sexual abuse charges involving a child, a judge ruled Monday.

Reynaldo Crespin, 59, was booked Saturday into the Clark County Detention Center on two counts of sexual assault against a child under 16, two counts of sexual assault against a child under 14, four counts of lewdness with a child under 14, and one count each of open or gross lewdness and lewdness with a child age 14 or 15, court records show.

“The abuse lasted so long that essentially we have the full gambit of crimes. We have crimes under the age of 14, we have crimes under the age of 16, and we have crimes over the age of 16,” prosecutor William Rowles said in court Monday.

Las Vegas Justice of the Peace Joe Bonaventure ordered the $500,000 bail. If released on bail, Crespin will be subject to high-level electronic monitoring, and he was ordered to have no contact with any minors or the victim.

Rowles said that once Crespin knew the victim planned to disclose the abuse, he took steps to flee to New Mexico. He resigned from his position with the Clark County School District, cut up his family’s bank cards, disconnected security cameras and Wi-Fi at their home, and then vanished, according to a Metropolitan Police Department arrest report.

“He left his vehicle behind,” Rowles said. “He left a note saying that he would be living on the streets and took sleeping bags to sort of give credibility to the statement.”

Crespin was arrested in Albuquerque, New Mexico, on Feb. 19, a day after Metro put out a public alert noting that he was wanted on sex crimes.

Michael Wilfond, a public defender, said Crespin was staying with an uncle in New Mexico, where he is from, and was not attempting to flee the country.

A woman told police that Crespin had physically and mentally abused her from the time she was a child, according to his arrest report, and she came forward after he disappeared.

The school district said it hired Crespin in 2016 and that he last worked at Hickey Elementary School.

Crespin and his wife founded New Horizon Christian Church, 2167 N. Walnut Road, in 2002, according to the church’s website.

He was ordered to appear in court again on April 4.

Contact Katelyn Newberg at knewberg@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0240. Follow @k_newberg on Twitter.