Trial begins for man accused of child kidnapping, assault

By Cara McCoy

Monday, Nov. 2, 2009 | 8:25 p.m.

UPDATED STORY: Girl, 15, recounts alleged kidnapping, assault

The trial of a man accused of kidnapping and raping a 13-year-old girl walking home from school began Monday with his attorney telling a Clark County jury that the sex acts that took place between his client and the girl were consensual.

Edward Adams, 26, is charged with first-degree kidnapping and sexually assaulting a minor, all with a deadly weapon, as well as battery and open and gross lewdness in connection with a Dec. 14, 2007, incident at a vacant apartment in northwest Las Vegas.

He has pleaded not guilty to all charges.

If convicted, Adams could face multiple life sentences with additional years tacked on for the weapons enhancements, prosecutor Craig Hendricks said.

For the teen girl and her family, what happened that day was an “absolute worst nightmare come true,” Hendricks said in his opening argument.

Before the alleged rape, Adams was a stranger. Now, Hendricks said, Adams is someone the girl can’t forget.

On that December afternoon, the girl had plans with a friend to play basketball and have a sleepover after school. But when her plans fell through, she started to walk home.

At about 2:30 p.m., she encountered Adams, who had been hanging out in a public area near a local junior high school, according to court records.

He approached the girl from behind, grabbed her and said, "Don't scream, don't run, I have a gun," records indicate. He then forced her to walk with him to a vacant apartment near Charleston Boulevard and Buffalo Drive. It was there that Adams allegedly assaulted the girl.

During his opening argument, Adams’ attorney, deputy public defender Jeffrey Maningo, didn’t dispute that sex acts between his client and the teenager took place. Physical evidence, including DNA and fingerprints, will prove that, he said.

Maningo instead argued that the sexual acts between the girl and Adams were consensual. He said the girl went “thrill-seeking” after school when her plans with her friend fell through. She then lied about what happened after the fact so she wouldn’t get in trouble for not coming home on time, Maningo said.

When the alleged assault occurred, “he was 25, and that’s too old – but there’s an appropriate charge for that. This isn’t it,” Maningo said. He added that no witnesses, including the alleged victim, ever reported to police specifically seeing a gun.

“This wasn’t a kidnapping,” he said, saying the enhancements for using a gun weren’t appropriate because his client didn’t have one.

The girl encountered Adams, spoke with him, flirted with him, then willingly walked with him to the apartment and they had consensual sex, Maningo said.

The state presented a different story.

Adams had been waiting for a victim outside the school, Hendricks said. After grabbing the girl from behind, he threatened her with violence and forced her to walk with him to an abandoned apartment, where he assaulted her. When she cried for him to stop, he bound her and gagged her with tape so she couldn’t yell or fight Adams off, Hendricks said.

DNA evidence recovered from the scene was later linked to Adams.

The girl’s mother called 911 to report the crime after her daughter told her what happened. The girl was taken to University Medical Center, where her injuries were documented and physical evidence was collected. That evidence, as well as fingerprints found at the scene and a description of her alleged attacker, pointed to Adams, Hendricks said.

The girl and two witnesses who had seen her walking with the man were able to pick Adams out of a photo lineup, Hendricks said.

There were significant differences in what the witnesses initially told detectives and what they said to the grand jury that indicted Adams, Maningo said. He urged jurors to have an open mind and to think critically about the evidence that was presented to them.

The mother’s 911 call will be played for the jury during the trial, which is expected to last four to five days. The nurse who collected DNA and police investigators also are scheduled to testify.

The victim is also expected to take the stand.

Adams was arrested a month after the alleged attack and has remained in the Clark County Detention Center on a combined $375,000 bond, according to jail records.

He has a prior felony conviction, Hendricks said, which could mean an additional sentencing enhancement.