John D. Jessup, 49, Shirley, is a Hancock County Commissioner who has been accused of sexual assault in Las Vegas. Jessup had a pretrial hearing in a Las Vegas Courtroom Thursday morning, according to court records there.
HANCOCK COUNTY — John D. Jessup, the Hancock County Commissioner accused of sexual assault against a woman during an incident in January, was back in a Las Vegas courtroom Thursday morning for a preliminary hearing on the charge he faces.
Jessup, 49, Shirley, has been in the Clark County Jail in Las Vegas since being transported there back in June after law enforcement officials in Las Vegas say Jessup sexually assaulted a woman at a hotel in Las Vegas following a drunken night on the town.
According to court records from Las Vegas Township Regional Justice Center Court 12, Jessup and his attorney appeared before Judicial officer Diana L. Sullivan for a preliminary hearing July 11, where a side bar conference was held.
During the side bar session, Jessup’s defense attorney court records show asked the court for the matter to be continued so the two sides could try to work together for some type of negotiations or plea agreement, which came at the defense’s request.
The motion for a continence was granted by the judge. The bail in the case remains the same after it had been set earlier at $100,000 total, court records show. Should Jessup, who has been in jail in Clark County since June 14, when he was transferred there, be able to come up with the funds, he’d still be considered a “high-level” release. That means he would have to be subject to electronic monitoring with other restrictions including being under a no contact order to protect the victim.
Court records show the no contact order, which was given in late June, is set to expire Sept. 26 of this year. Jessup is scheduled to be back in court at 7:30 a.m. MST on Thursday, July 25, where officials will discuss a possible negotiation agreed upon.
Sexual assault is considered a Category A felony in Nevada, which is the most serious level of felony in the state. State law states it is illegal to engage in sexual penetration either by force or without lawful consent. The sentence for a sexual assault conviction depends on several factors, including the victim’s age, whether the victim was injured, and the defendant’s criminal history. According to Las Vegas statutes, for forced sexual penetration or sexual penetration without the ability to consent, the maximum penalty is life with the possibility of parole after 10 years.
Jessup was still listed as an inmate in the Clark County Jail as of Friday afternoon.
Officials with the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department said in an official report filed June 8 that the sexual assault of a woman happened at a Las Vegas hotel after Jessup “fed” the woman alcohol during a drunken night on the town in late January.
Officials in the police report quoted Jessup as saying, “What happens in Vegas stays in Vegas,” during the night filled with alcohol, gambling and a visit to a strip club. Then, in an interview conducted by the Shirley Police Department several months after the alleged incident, Jessup admitted to local officials he did sexually assault the woman. The report went on to say that Jessup, however, didn’t feel it was a criminal offense, but rather a result of a drunken night.
READ MORE: www.greenfieldreporter.com/2024/06/26/las-vegas-police-release-details-of-jessups-arrest-for-sexual-assault/
