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Attempted sexual assault case dropped against former counseling service owner

District Judge Jessie Walsh dismissed an attempted sexual assault case Monday against the politically connected former owner of a courthouse counseling service.

The charges against Steven Brox, 46, stemmed from a December 2008 encounter with his 18-year-old niece, who was 15 at the time. Brox was to stand trial this week, but the niece, who now lives in Utah, had recanted her testimony.

In a videotaped interview with a defense investigator, the niece said she lied on the witness stand at a preliminary hearing last year. She said she made up the allegations to gain sympathy from her boyfriend to keep him from breaking up with her.

“I’m very relieved,” Brox said after Monday’s hearing. “For everyone who believed in me and supported me, thank you, and I love you. For everyone else, I wish you best and God bless you.”

Brox’s lawyer, Robert Draskovich, said Walsh had made the “appropriate decision” to dismiss the case.

Chief Deputy District Attorney Lisa Luzaich declined to comment.

Brox, a longtime familiar courthouse face, is under a separate criminal investigation into allegations that he sold fraudulent certificates stating clients had completed his counseling programs.

Draskovich said Las Vegas police have returned most of the property they seized from Brox last year. He said he doesn’t think the investigation will result in charges.

For years, Brox ran United States Justice Associates, a counseling service that helped people charged with crimes get through the justice system.

The company, which closed after police began investigating its business dealings, was one of several that offered court-ordered counseling programs for misdemeanor cases of alcohol and drug abuse, AIDS awareness, anger management and petty larceny.

Contact reporter Jeff German at jgerman@
reviewjournal.com or 702-380-8135.

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