North Las Vegas man charged with criminal sexual abuse, traveling to meet 12-year-old Harvard girl

A North Las Vegas man was charged Wednesday with traveling to meet a minor after it was reported that he traveled to Harvard to meet a 12-year-old girl he met online, Harvard police said Thursday.

Leonel E. Rivas-Martinez, 18, of the 1800 block of McCarran Street, North Las Vegas, Nevada, also was charged with two counts of aggravated criminal sexual abuse, one count of grooming and one count of solicitation to meet a child, according to a news release.

He is accused in a five-count criminal complaint of kissing the girl and having inappropriate contact with her May 3.

The arrest came after Harvard police responded at 4:33 p.m. Wednesday to the Baymont Inn, 1701 S. Division St., for a disturbance in the parking lot, according to the release.

After officers arrived, they determined that Rivas-Martinez had begun a “dating relationship” with the 12-year-old Harvard girl via the social media platforms Omegle and Snapchat, court records show.

It was through those same platforms that Rivas-Martinez allegedly convinced the girl to meet up with him in person, prompting him to travel from North Las Vegas to Harvard to see her, according to the release. A 30-year-old male relative of the girl found out, went to the hotel, confronted Rivas-Martinez there and called the police.

Rivas-Martinez was taken to the McHenry County Jail, where bond was set at $5,000, according to jail records.