Formal charges filed against ex-Halverson bailiff in alleged sex assault

By Cara McCoy

Thursday, Feb. 18, 2010 | 2:05 a.m.

Formal charges were filed Wednesday against the bailiff of former Judge Elizabeth Halverson, who is accused of sexually assaulting a 14-year-old girl.

Johnnie Jordan, 40, of Las Vegas, is facing two counts of sexual assault with a minor under 16 years old, one count of sexually motivated coercion and two counts of open or gross lewdness — all felonies — in connection with an alleged assault of a 14-year-old girl and family friend early Saturday evening.

Jordan was arrested Sunday morning.

North Las Vegas Police responded about 6:30 p.m. Saturday to a home in the 3000 block of West Colton Avenue to a report of a sexual assault.

According to an arrest report, officers spoke with the girl’s mother, who said Jordan had arrived at the home at about 5:30 p.m. with his ex-fiancee and his mother.

The girl’s mother said Jordan went inside the home while she remained outside, speaking with Jordan’s mother. She told police she stayed outside, chatting, for about 10 minutes.

After that, Jordan left the house and the girl approached her mother with a written note that said Jordan had raped her, the arrest report said.

Police interviewed the girl’s brother and another woman who lived at the home. They said they didn’t see or hear anything but had been told by the alleged victim she had been raped shortly after the assault allegedly took place, the report said.

When officers spoke with the girl, she was “extremely upset” and showed signs she might have been assaulted, according to the report.

The girl told police she was in her bedroom, texting on her phone, when Jordan entered her bedroom. He began to tickle her and kissed her neck and ears before the alleged assault took place, she told police.

The girl was taken to a local hospital for further examination.

Jordan is being held in the North Las Vegas Detention Center on $80,000 bail. He is scheduled to appear in court Feb. 23.

Halverson was ousted as a judge in November 2008 after the Nevada Commission on Judicial Discipline issued an order to permanently remove her from the bench.

Jordan previously was employed as a bailiff in Halverson’s courtroom, but she removed Jordan and brought in two individuals who were unlicensed to serve as bodyguards.

The commission found there was no reason for Halverson to hire two men when all the other judges in the district only had a bailiff.

Halverson was accused of mistreating her staff, berating them with foul language and requiring her bailiff to massage her feet, neck and shoulders.

Halverson was suspended from the bench in July 2007. She lost a recent bid for re-election in the August primary election.

She faced a disciplinary hearing in August 2008 on charges of misconduct. After two weeks of hearings in August, the commission heard a dozen complaints, including that the judge was accused of sleeping on the bench and treating her staff like servants.