A Nevada man accused of raping a little girl on a videotape found in the desert waived an evidentiary hearing Wednesday and was bound over for trial in state court.
Chester Arthur Stiles surprised everyone, including his lawyer, when he agreed not to make prosecutors present evidence and have witnesses testify at a preliminary hearing.
Public Defender Stacey Roundtree told Las Vegas Justice of the Peace Deborah Lippis that there was no plea deal on the table. Roundtree said outside court that waiving the preliminary hearing was Stiles' idea.
"He doesn't want to put any of the witnesses or victims through anything unnecessary at this point," Roundtree said. "He understands he'll have his day in court later." The judge dropped one felony charge of use of a minor in producing pornography against the 37-year-old Stiles, and scheduled him for arraignment Dec. 20 in state court on 22 remaining charges. Stiles is being held in isolation at the Clark County jail in Las Vegas. The charges against him, including lewdness with a child under 14 and sexual assault of a child under 14, could result in multiple terms of life in prison. Stiles became the focus of a nationwide manhunt in early October after a Pahrump man turned the tape over to Nye County sheriff's investigators and told them he found it in the desert. Nye County authorities released images from the videotape to the media and pleaded for public help to find the girl and the man. The girl, now 7, was located Sept. 28 in Las Vegas. Stiles was arrested Oct. 15 after a routine traffic stop in Henderson.
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