Court briefs for October 31, 2001

Wednesday, Oct. 31, 2001 | 9:41 a.m.

Former teacher gets prison time

A former Las Vegas elementary school teacher was sentenced to five to 13 years in prison Tuesday on child pornography charges.

John Earl Whittaker, 30, in July pleaded guilty to three charges of possession of child pornography just weeks after he was charged on more than 100 counts.

Whittaker was a fourth grade teacher at Dearing Elementary School near Lamb Boulevard and Boulder Highway when a computer technician found the pornographic material on his classroom computer.

Investigators found similar images on his home computer.

Deputy District Attorney Tammy Peterson said that in exchange for Whittaker's guilty plea the state dropped the vast majority of the charges against him. Also the federal government agreed not to pursue charges.

Driver placed on probation

A Las Vegas man was placed on five years' probation Tuesday in connection with an accident that killed a 70-year-old man in December.

George Avendano, 27, pleaded guilty to attempted felony reckless driving, Chief Deputy District Attorney Gary Booker said. Should Avendano violate his probation, he could spend 12 to 30 months in prison.

Booker said Avendano was going 51 to 58 mph in a 25 mph zone when Marshall Rayner turned into his path on Russell Road near Rainbow Boulevard.

Rayner died at the scene, Booker said.

Couple face preliminary hearing

A Feb. 5 preliminary hearing has been scheduled for a Las Vegas couple charged with involuntary manslaughter and child abuse in connection with the drowning death of a 5-year-old girl.

Las Vegas Justice of the Peace Deborah Lippis set the hearing date for Rovelyn Aban and Gregory Jones during their arraignment Tuesday.

Defense attorneys Thomas Pitaro and John Momot entered not-guilty pleas on behalf of their clients, whose presence at the brief hearing was waived.

Jones and Aban were charged Sept. 19 in the death of Aban's daughter, Ammacyn.

Chief Deputy District Attorney Dan Bowman said the girl asked the couple if she could go out and play by the pool. They said yes, even though they knew the girl could not swim. The couple closed their screen door so their cats could not get out.

They found the girl at the bottom of the pool 15 minutes later after realizing they could no longer hear her, Bowman said.

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