Las Vegas Sun

March 28, 2024

Sergeant arrested on molestation charges

A 40-year-old sergeant stationed at Nellis Air Force Base was arrested Wednesday on 73 counts of molesting girls, Metro Police said.

James Wheaton, who is assigned to the 99th Air Base Wing in the Civil Engineering Squadron, was being held this morning in the Clark County Detention Center on $965,000 bail.

He was arrested on 28 counts of sexual assault of a victim under 16; 19 counts of sexual assault of a victim under 14; and 26 counts of lewdness of a minor under 14.

Wheaton's arrest came after two girls told a Metro Police patrol officer Wednesday that they had been victimized since the mid-1990s. Another girl reported Wheaton first touched her inappropriately her earlier this year, the police report says.

One girl told police Wheaton began sexually assaulting her when she was 7 years old. The police report says he showed her and another girl, who was 4 at the time, a pornographic film then forced them to perform acts on him.

The alleged abuse occurred repeatedly over the years, the report says.

One of the girls saw Wheaton sexually assault another girl and told an adult, who called police, according to the report.

Wheaton was found Wednesday morning at Nellis and was brought to Metro's sexual assault office for questioning.

He admitted to sexually assaulting all three girls but said it only happened two or three times with each of them, according to the report.

"Nellis officials cannot comment due to the case being under civil jurisdiction," Master Sgt. Charles Ramey, Nellis spokesman, said.

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