Man who tied up toddlers to watch sports at a bar sentenced

By Dave Toplikar

Tuesday, May 24, 2011 | 12:06 p.m.

A man who admits to tying up and gagging his girlfriend's two small boys and leaving them in a garage while he went to watch sports at a bar with his friends in June 2009 was sentenced today by a Clark County judge.

Jonathan Weaver, 22, was sentenced by District Judge James Bixler to serve a total of 24 to 72 months in prison.

However, Weaver will be eligible for parole in 17 days because he has already served nearly two years in the Clark County Detention Center, Bixler said.

"Jonathan, you're going to go to prison and you're going to be on parole and you're going to be supervised and you're going to have six years hanging over your head," Bixler said.

Before sentencing, Weaver told the judge he was sorry and took full responsibility for his actions.

He originally pleaded not guilty to six felony counts, which included two counts of attempted murder and two counts of kidnapping. However, he entered into a plea agreement in January to plead guilty to two counts of child abuse and the use of a deadly weapon in the commission of a crime.

His public defender, Amy Porray, asked for probation, saying Weaver's "remorse is genuine" and that he had already been in jail for 713 days.

Weaver and Porray both said Weaver wasn't intentionally trying to hurt the boys. They said he had tied them up so they wouldn't hurt themselves and left them in the garage temporarily so he could watch sports with his friends in a bar.

However, Bixler said "but for a neighbor who heard them crying in the garage, they could have easily have died in there."

The judge said Weaver's action were "stupid" in binding, gagging and tying the two boys to chairs and leaving them alone in the garage.

"I can't imagine anything that would be more frightening," Bixler said.

Although Weaver had asked for probation, Bixler said he was going to prison, at least for a short time. Bixler sentenced him to two consecutive prison terms of 12 to 36 months on the charges, but gave him credit for time already served.

Police responded to a report of babies crying from inside a garage at an apartment complex in the 10000 block of South Spencer Street at 8:18 p.m. June 9, 2009. The crying had stopped by the time police and medics arrived, but the person who reported the noise was able to point out which garage the cries had come from.

Firefighters cut open the garage door to find the two toddlers in car seats, their hands bound with a white rope or twine that also wrapped around their necks.

A piece of clothing was stuffed in both boys' mouths and a shirt was pulled over the younger child’s face, police said. The children were taken to an area hospital.

The children had been left in the garage for more than two hours, police said.

The garage belonged to Weaver's mother, who told police her son lived with her at the apartment.

According to police, the children belonged to Weaver's girlfriend, Amy Beltran, who was taking night classes and left the boys with Weaver.

Weaver told police he believed the boys would be safe in the garage while he went to a neighborhood bar to watch an NBA Finals game with a friend.

Weaver allegedly told police that they had "camp outs" in the garage and he tied their hands so they couldn't grab tools that were in the garage. He said he played with the children for about 20 to 30 minutes until they fell asleep, then left, according to police.