Las Vegas high school’s AD makes court appearance in child porn case

Arbor View High School’s longtime athletic director told a student he had many side businesses, including one that involved selling pictures of boys in varying states of undress, according to his arrest report.

The Las Vegas Review-Journal obtained the report Friday, the same day Roger Brown made his first court appearance in his child pornography case.

Brown, 54, was booked into the Clark County Detention Center on Tuesday on a charge of using or permitting a minor age 14 or older to produce pornography.

On Monday, a 17-year-old student told Clark County School District police that Brown had tried to enlist him in a venture that involved the student sending him pictures, according to the arrest report.

The student told police he recorded a conversation with Brown that day in which Brown laid out the ground rules of his side business.

Brown said many girls would pay as much as $25 to view the photos of boys posing in their underwear on Brown’s cellphone in his office.

The student told police one other boy may have been involved already, and Brown was trying to recruit more.

Brown’s side business had many protocols, according to the arrest report:

The pictures were always deleted after the girls saw them, and the student could never save Brown’s number under his real name. The less clothes the student wore, the more he would be paid. The pictures could start out with the student in loose boxers and progress to tighter underwear. The student was told he should send four photos each time, two from the front and two from the back.

According to the report, Brown told the student he could get paid with money or marijuana.

The report said the student’s phone is being scanned to look for a recording of the conversation.

Brown told school police officers that he heard rumors in the locker room about students sending pictures as a way to get cigarettes or marijuana, but he did not recall asking any students to pose for pictures in exchange for money.

Prosecutors asked the court for an extension until Tuesday to file a criminal complaint against Brown.

“It’s an ongoing investigation which could lead to potential other charges, and we want to examine all our avenues before filing the complaint,” Chief Deputy District Attorney James Sweetin said.

Principal Kevin McPartlin sent a letter home to Arbor View parents on Thursday to notify them that a teacher had been arrested in connection with “inappropriate behavior involving a student.”

Brown has held the position of athletic director since the school opened in 2005. He has worked for the school district since 1989, and in 2014, he was named Nevada’s athletic director of the year. He is on paid administrative leave.

Contact Wesley Juhl at wjuhl@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0391. Follow @WesJuhl on Twitter. Contact Brooke Wanser at bwanser@reviewjournal.com. Follow @Bwanser_LVRJ on Twitter.