Jury convicts man in assault on 13-year-old girl

By Cara McCoy

Published Wednesday, Nov. 4, 2009 | 1:37 p.m.

Updated Wednesday, Nov. 4, 2009 | 9:14 p.m.

A 26-year-old man is looking at life behind bars after being convicted on multiple felony counts tied to the kidnapping and sexual assault of a 13-year-old girl two years ago.

Edward Adams was found guilty of one count of first-degree kidnapping, one count of battery with intent to commit a crime, one count of open and gross lewdness and seven counts of sexual assault. He was found not guilty on two other counts of sexual assault.

Deliberations took only about an hour. On most of the 12 charges he was facing, the jury had an option to find him guilty of using a deadly weapon in the crime but they did not. The victim and other witnesses testified that they believed Adams had a gun but never physically saw one.

“This was the appropriate verdict for a strange man picking up a girl on the street,” said prosecutor Richard Scow. “This sort of crime cannot be tolerated.”

The victim, now 15, testified Tuesday about what happened to her on the afternoon of Dec. 14, 2007, in a vacant apartment in northwest Las Vegas, near Buffalo Drive and Charleston Boulevard.

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

At about 2:30 p.m., she encountered Adams, who was in a public area near a local junior high school.

He approached her from behind, grabbed her and said, “Don’t scream, don’t run, I have a gun,” she testified.

He then forced her to walk with him about a mile to the abandoned apartment, where he assaulted the girl.

Sentencing is set for Jan. 13 in front of District Court Judge David Barker. The maximum sentence on the sexual assault charges is life in prison, and the judge could impose those sentences consecutively.

The girl’s family expressed relief after leaving the courtroom.

“We are overjoyed,” the girl’s father said. “Now we can get on with our lives.”

The family said they were grateful to the 12 jurors who found Adams guilty. They also said the verdicts were a clear indication that the defense’s claim that the sex acts were consensual didn’t hold water.

“He didn’t fool anyone,” one of her relatives, who had been present throughout the three-day trial, said. “At least we have one predator off the streets forever.”

Adams’ attorney, deputy public defender Jeffrey Maningo, declined to offer comment Wednesday evening but noted that an appeals process was mandatory in cases like these.

In closing arguments, Maningo honed in on reasonable doubt and again said that the sex acts between the victim and his client were consensual.

“This case is about bad decisions, not about bad people,” Maningo said. “(The victim) told a story about what she wants to believe happened … She wants to believe it was forced. It’s easier to believe it was forced. If you think about something long enough and hard enough, it’s easier to believe it’s true.”

Maningo had asked the jury to find him guilty of statutory sexual seduction, a lesser charge than sexual assault, because he claimed the sex acts were consensual and said the girl willingly went with Adams to the vacant apartment.

In Nevada, multiple acts in a single criminal encounter can be charged separately and corroboration of testimony of sexual assault victims isn’t necessary for a conviction.

In Scow’s closing argument, he hammered on Adams for what he called taking away a young girl’s innocence.

“Hold him responsible for his actions, for what he did to her and the pain he caused her,” he asked the jury.

His co-counsel, Deputy District Attorney Craig Hendricks, reiterated that sentiment in his final statement before deliberations.

“How could any reasonable person believe that was a consensual sexual act?” he asked rhetorically. “There is zero evidence this was consensual. He took this child’s innocence.”

Wednesday morning, Metro Police DNA and fingerprint analysts testified about the evidence recovered at the crime scene and how it was linked to Adams.

A nurse who specializes in treating victims of sexual assault testified about the girl’s injuries. She examined the girl at University Medical Center in the evening hours after the alleged crimes took place.

Three witnesses testified Wednesday afternoon on Adams’ behalf.

When asked if her brother was prone to using violence or force, his 16-year-old sister said, “He’s like a teddy bear.” Another sister, Jamie Galloway, 22, said her brother had always been protective.

A family friend, 18-year-old Daneil Irish, said she had never seen Adams act violently.

“I’ve never seen him get outrageous with anyone,” she said. “He’s not violent. He’s not known for that.”

He has remained in the Clark County Detention Center on a combined $375,000 bond since his arrest in January 2008.

Adams didn’t take the stand.