Alleged molestation victim may have lied about an incident

Heather Rawlyk

Monday, Jan. 26, 2004 | 9:39 a.m.

A 4-year-old girl who accused a man of sexually molesting her at church in May told her mother she lied about similar accusations against her uncle, according to court records.

The false allegation is mentioned in transcripts of grand jury proceedings that ended in John Misseldine's indictment in December.

Misseldine, 21, is charged with molesting two girls while they were attending a class at the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints chapel off Christy Lane in Las Vegas.

He is charged with one count of sexual assault with a minor and two counts of lewdness with a child.

Misseldine is out of custody after posting a $35,000 bond.

According to the transcript, the 4-year-old indicated to police that her uncle had touched her on her "private parts." Police said the child also indicated to them that her mother knew of the sexual molestation and was "doing nothing about it."

During grand jury proceedings, the mother of the girl said she asked her daughter several times if her uncle had touched her and the girl indicated no.

The girl later admitted to her mother that she had "told a lie," the woman told the grand jury.

The mother said her daughter was "not specific" about what she had lied about, but that she was under the impression the lie regarded the allegations against the child's uncle.

Charges were eventually dropped and the uncle was released, the mother said.

Clark County prosecutor Becky Goettsch said Sunday she would not reconsider indictment.

"We put that information into the grand jury proceeding because we put anything in there that may be an issue," she said. "It's still not clear that those allegations were false."

Goettsch said the apparent false allegation against the child's uncle has "no relevance" in the Misseldine case.

Misseldine's attorney Robert Draskovich was not available this morning for comment.

During the grand jury proceedings, an 8-year-old girl and the 4-year-old girl testified about the alleged sexual molestation that occurred when they were in a room with Misseldine in May.

Before the grand jury proceedings were over, a juror excused himself from the courtroom, according to court transcripts, because he is an LDS member.

It was decided that there were enough grand jurors to proceed, and the man was excused from the jury, according to court transcripts.