Man, 89, accused of serial sex abuse of minors in Las Vegas, Reno

An 89-year-old Arizona man has been arrested on accusations he sexually abused children in his home state and in Las Vegas and Reno dating to the 1970s.

Leslie Jenkins, of Tucson, was arrested Dec. 7 and booked into the Clark County Detention Center on multiple felony counts of sexual assault and lewdness with a child.

Police wrote in his arrest report that an investigation into Jenkins started on Aug. 2 when a social worker said a Reno youth disclosed sexual abused by Jenkins in Reno. When questioned, the girl confirmed the details of the assaults to detectives.

Police said they subsequently interviewed multiple accusers. Two women told police they’d been abused by Jenkins in the 1970s. Another said she and a second youth had been abused by Jenkins in Las Vegas, and that the other girl ultimately took her life when she turned 18.

“(She) recalled being touched more than 1,000 times by Leslie over a course of eight years,” police said of the surviving accuser. “The abuse was said to have started in 1999-2007.”

The woman told police “the sex abuse also occurred every time they went on vacations, which took place in California, Utah and various camping trips in Las Vegas,” police said.

During an interview with Las Vegas detectives, Jenkins allegedly told police “he know(s) what he did was wrong,” the report said.

Jenkins has not been formally charged and was being held on $500,000 bail. He is scheduled to appear in Las Vegas Justice Court Monday morning to learn if Clark County prosecutors will pursue the case.

Contact Glenn Puit by email at gpuit@reviewjournal.com. Follow @GlennatRJ on Twitter.