Kidnapping suspect faces charges in home state, Indiana

Tuesday, May 22, 2001 | 10:15 a.m.

SUN STAFF AND WIRE REPORTS

Whether Las Vegas will ever see William A. "Andy" Beith again is unsure after the 29-year-old former Baptist school principal, charged in the kidnapping and sexual assault of a former student, was returned to Indiana over the weekend to face federal charges.

He is scheduled to make his initial court appearance on Thursday.

Last week, Clark County District Attorney Stewart Bell said a deal was in the works for Clark County to drop its charges -- allegations that can at a later date be refiled -- so federal prosecutors in Indiana could get first crack at Beith, a resident of Burns Harbor, Ind.

Beith is accused of kidnapping an 11-year-old female student of his former school, Liberty Baptist Academy in Lake Station, Ind., and sexually assaulting her on a cross-country trip to Las Vegas. She turned 12 last week.

Beith disappeared with the girl on May 1. Indiana police issued a warrant the next day. The girl and Beith were found on May 8 by a Metro Police officer who arrested Beith in his sport utility vehicle outside a local motel.

Bell, who is on vacation this week and could not be reached for comment today, told the Sun last week he decided after conferring with federal prosecutors in Indiana and Las Vegas that it would be best to dismiss the local charges.

"I'd be surprised if he were still here next week," Bell said noting that if the resolution of Beith's federal case does not meet his idea of justice, the local charges could be reinstated.

But given the prison time Beith faces in Indiana if convicted, it is uncertain whether there will be a need to return him to Las Vegas to try and convicted him here and sentence him to additional years behind bars.

Beith, who waived extradition, was moved from Las Vegas to Chicago and will face in Indiana federal charges of coercing and enticing a minor into sexual acts and transporting a minor across state lines for sexual purposes. The charges carry a possible maximum sentence of 30 years.

U.S. Attorney David Capp said Monday that additional charges could be added after a grand jury reviews the case.

In Las Vegas Beith had been charged with kidnapping, sexual assault and lewdness with a minor.

Bell said his decision not to immediately pursue those charges was based on several reasons, including that all of the parties are from Indiana, where there are additional child custody issues that need to be resolved and at least two separate criminal investigations going on.

The decision also spares the girl from making several trips to Las Vegas for hearings, Bell said.

At a hearing in Las Vegas earlier this month, Clark County District Judge Gerald Hardcastle ruled it was in the girl's best interest to return to Indiana in the custody of Indiana Child Protective Services workers. She remains in state custody while Indiana officials continue to investigate her home life.

The girl's parents also flew in for the Las Vegas hearing and went home the next day.