Former youth center employee pleads guilty to sex crimes
A former employee at a Nye County youth psychiatric facility has pleaded guilty to child abuse involving sexual abuse and sexual conduct with children.
Christopher Burleson, was arrested in Las Vegas in April 2022 and originally charged with sexual assault, two counts of sexual conduct with children under care and three counts of sexual abuse and exploitation of a child, court records show. He plead guilty on Sept. 7 in Nye County District Court.
He was accused of raping a 16-year-old girl, forcing a 17-year-old girl to perform sex acts and forcing a 14-year-old girl with a history of sexual abuse to answer inappropriate questions “for the Defendant’s sexual gratification,” according to a criminal complaint.
Burleson met the girls in October 2021 while working at Never Give Up Youth Healing Center, a now-closed facility in Amargosa Valley that was the subject of a Review-Journal investigation. Five other adults associated with the facility are facing criminal charges ranging from child abuse to sexual assault.
Burleson is the first one to plead, and he is scheduled for sentencing in December.
His attorney, Damian Sheets, could not immediately be reached for comment.
Contact Sabrina Schnur at sschnur@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0278. Follow @sabrina_schnur on Twitter.