Las Vegas briefs

Friday, April 11, 1997 | 11:59 a.m.

* CHILD PORN SENTENCING -- A former Mesquite resident convicted of child pornography production has been sentenced to 10 years in prison, U.S. Attorney Kathryn Landreth's office said. U.S. District Judge Philip Pro sentenced Davy Jay Bounsall, 27, to the maximum term permitted under federal sentencing guidelines. Bounsall was also ordered to pay a $5,000 fine and will be on three years probation following his release from prison. After a three-day trial, Bounsall was found guilty on Nov. 15 of enticing or attempting to entice a minor across state lines for the purpose of child pornography. "He had placed ads and tried to get young women to participate in his film he was making," said Judy Schretter, trial attorney in the Department of Justice Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section. Schretter, who helped try the case, said Bounsall had placed ads in several newspapers and had asked some Mesquite teenagers to be in his film.

* PROSTITUTION ARREST -- An HIV-positive woman is being charged with a felony after soliciting an undercover Metro Police vice detective for prostitution. Patricia Franklin, 38, was arrested about 1:30 a.m. Wednesday near McWilliams Street and Las Vegas Boulevard North, police said. The location was just a few blocks from Las Vegas Boulevard and Mesquite Avenue, where Franklin was arrested Jan. 26 on a misdemeanor prostitution charge. After submitting to a mandatory blood test, Franklin was notified of her HIV status and told that any future arrests would be felonies because of her deadly health status. Franklin is the fourth HIV-infected person this year arrested by Metro on felony prostitution charges.

* VOLUNTEERS NEEDED -- Skilled craftsmen are being sought as volunteers to help renovate the MASH Village Crisis Intervention Center. Area contractors have volunteered to help refurbish the former 13,000-square-foot discount food store on the site of Mobile Assistance and Shelter for the Homeless complex at 1581 N. Main St. The crisis center will be the point of entry for homeless and otherwise poor people to seek social services and shelter. MASH Director Joe Carroll is making the plea for skilled craftsmen to join the contractors who are volunteering their time to meet a June 1 deadline for completion of the center. Craftsmen being sought include steel-stud installers, drywall hangers, finish carpenters and glass installers. Volunteers can call Arnie Stalk of RPS Nevada Affordable Housing Corp. at 471-7501.

* LAWSUIT DISMISSED -- A Las Vegas federal judge has dismissed a civil rights lawsuit filed by a teacher against the Clark County School District. Muin Mustafa, a teacher at O'Callaghan Middle School, claimed that district officials discriminated against him due to his Palestinian heritage and disability. But U.S. District Judge Howard McKibben ruled last month that Mustafa lacked the evidence to go to trial and granted summary judgment to the school district. Mustafa's attorney, Richard Segerblom, is appealing the judge's decision to the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. Meanwhile, on Wednesday the district filed a motion to force Mustafa to pay its attorney fees. Mustafa once was accused of sexual misconduct with a former student, but he was cleared of the alleged wrongdoing. In his original lawsuit, Mustafa alleged that the subsequent job shuffling and a series of harassing actions left him physically and mentally ill. He was seeking more than $20,000 in alleged damages.