Child molester draws 12-to-30-year sentence

Bill Gang

Tuesday, Feb. 15, 2000 | 10:38 a.m.

A Las Vegas advertising man with a history of sexual misconduct involving children has been sentenced to 12 to 30 years in prison.

District Judge Kathy Hardcastle on Monday ordered that Randall Gaess be placed on lifetime supervision when he finally is released from prison.

Gaess drew the lengthy sentence after a state psychologist determined there is a high likelihood the defendant would continue his predatory ways if released on probation.

Gaess, 53, had pleaded guilty in July to charges of lewdness with a child under 14, attempted lewdness with a child and indecent exposure in a plea bargain that he accepted on the morning of his trial.

When he failed to appear for his Jan. 18 sentencing, Hardcastle issued a warrant for his arrest, and police tracked him down in Las Vegas and brought him to court Monday in chains and shackles. Gaess told police he had been liquidating his assets and planned to flee because he knew he was going to prison, Deputy District Attorney Teresa Lowry said.

In 1983 the Las Vegas advertising man was convicted of indecent exposure involving his daughter and three of her girlfriends.

On the July morning when Gaess pleaded guilty to the latest round of sexual molestation charges involving children, the three friends of his daughter -- now adults -- sat in the rear of the courtroom.

They were prepared to testify about the defendant's past improprieties, but their mission was cut short by the plea bargain.

The current victims are sisters who were 9 and 12 when the incidents occurred during a two-year period that began in January 1996, according to court records.

Gaess, who was a television spokesman for furniture companies and other businesses when he ran an advertising agency, admitted he had fondled the older girl.

He told the judge he exposed himself to the younger girl.