More charges may come against suspended Las Vegas sergeant
Prosecutors filed a motion Monday to add two new charges against a suspended Metropolitan Police Department sergeant alleging possession of child sexual abuse material and requested that he be taken into custody and held without bail.
Metro Sgt. Kevin Menon was accused of possessing visual pornography of a person under the age of 16 last month after Metro officers said they discovered more than 200 images on two of Menon’s laptops during a search of his residence, prosecutors said.
Officers executed another search of Menon’s residence on Oct. 23 that located another laptop and digital storage device with more photos on them, prosecutors said in a motion filed Monday in District Court.
Prosecutors want to amend Menon’s criminal complaint to include two new charges of possession of visual presentation depicting sexual conduct of a child.
“Obviously of note here,” prosecutors wrote in a motion, Menon was “feloniously in possession of these images he saved on these devices while out on bail.”
In a statement, Menon’s family claim that the accusations Menon is facing are part of a conspiracy among Metro, the Las Vegas Police Protective Association and the Clark County district attorney’s office to “effectively lynch Sgt. Menon — a highly decorated, highly educated person of color, who previously confronted flagrant racism and abuses of power within the LVMPD.”
Metro and the district attorney’s office has not yet responded to requests for comment. Steve Grammas, president of the Las Vegas Police Protective Association, declined to comment.
Dispute over bail
Menon was out on bail related to a separate case filed in District Court — one in which he is charged with oppression and battery, among other crimes, and accused of illegally detaining people on the Las Vegas Strip — when prosecutors say the new photos were found.
Prosecutors said in a motion that they want District Court to consider the new charges against Menon when deciding what bail should be in his case regarding the alleged unlawful detentions, having previously requested it be set at $250,000.
In response to that request, Menon’s attorney, Dominic Gentile, wrote in a motion that preventing Menon from affording defense may be prosecutors’ “real” objective.
“The State’s Motion is an attempt to keep Sgt. Menon in custody by any means necessary,” the motion read.
In a new motion filed Monday, prosecutors said that after the discovery of the new images, which allegedly total nearly 400, they are requesting that Menon’s bail be revoked and that he be taken into custody because they claim he committed new felony crimes while released on bail.
Prosecutors wrote that “yet again,” Menon was found “to be in possession of over 300 additional images of children being sexually violated, exploited and put on display for Defendant’s prurient sexual interests.”
In court Wednesday, prosecutors said they want District Court Judge Ronald Israel to review photos associated with the case, and in their motion filed Monday, said they want the new images to be reviewed, as well.
Menon’s defense wrote in a motion that review of these images is not relevant to Menon’s case regarding the alleged unlawful detentions, but prosecutors said that any evidence relating to Menon’s character and criminal history is relevant.
Menon’s family speaks out
A statement signed by “the proud and diverse family of Sgt Kevin Menon” said that Menon has been painted “as a thug, as a liar, and now as a pervert.”
“For any person of color, we instantly recognize the naked lies, misrepresentations, and tired stereotypes used to try and justify racist bigotry,” the statement reads.
Menon wrote his own character statement, which was filed with District Court on Friday. In it, he described being brought up by his father, who was born in British administered India, and his mother, who was born in the Netherlands. “My parents instilled a deep sense of community service within me,” he wrote.
“Most importantly, I have been married for 10 years to my wife, Natasha,” Menon wrote. “I am the father of an adopted deaf pup named Muppet, the uncle of 3 nieces and 3 nephews, and, Baruch Hashem, hope to be the father of at least 2 kids with my wife.”
In his character statement, Menon also wrote that he transferred to Harvard where he studied medical anthropology and was “guaranteed admission” to Harvard Medical School but never attended.
Prosecutors wrote in their response filed Monday that investigators reached out to Harvard University, who said that they “found no records to indicate that Mr. Menon was admitted to Harvard College or the Harvard Medical School,” saying that a transcript found on Menon’s computer appeared to be fraudulent.
Menon described meeting his wife, Natasha Menon, while working as a paramedic in New York City and beginning the process of converting to Judaism.
In a motion filed Friday, Menon’s defense counsel wrote that when searching Menon’s house, “Metro officers, in disregard for Sgt. Menon’s religious beliefs, threw his Yarmulke in the trash.”
The statement by Menon’s family said that there is no Black representation within Metro’s executive command, and that the department has demonstrated “predatory arrest patterns and practices that disproportionately affect Black and brown people,” something that Menon called out in complaints.
In a motion filed Monday, prosecutors said that Menon “used his badge and position of authority at work to illegally arrest or otherwise violate the rights of a dozen or so individuals (virtually all of whom were African American males) and directed officers to falsify arrest reports,” actions that show “a complete disregard for the safety of the community Defendant was once entrusted to protect.”
Contact Estelle Atkinson at eatkinson@reviewjournal.com. Follow @estellelilym on X and @estelleatkinsonreports.