Lawyer, client arrested on jail sex charge

A Las Vegas defense attorney has been arrested on a felony charge of receiving oral sex from a female client during a secretly recorded contact visit at the Clark County Detention Center.

Curtis Cannon, 58, a member of the State Bar of Nevada since 2007, and his client, Crystal Wallis, 23, were charged with voluntary sexual conduct between a prisoner and another person.

Detectives with the Criminal Intelligence Section of the Metropolitan Police Department arrested Cannon at the Regional Justice Center on Monday and booked him into the detention center, where he was still listed in custody Tuesday afternoon.

Wallis was serving time at the detention center on drug charges and a charge of attempted possession of a stolen vehicle.

Detectives had installed an undercover camera without audio capabilities in the visiting room where Cannon met Wallis last Thursday, according to the arrest report.

Audio was excluded to avoid listening to private attorney-client conversations between Cannon and Wallis, sources said.

Detectives are investigating whether Cannon, who obtained his law degree from Brigham Young University and practiced in Texas before coming to Las Vegas, was involved in sexual misconduct with other female clients at the jail, the sources added.

David Clark, counsel for the State Bar, the organization that regulates lawyers, said his group also will be looking at Cannon.

"We'll monitor the criminal proceedings and investigate the allegations," he said.

Both Cannon, who could not be reached for comment, and Wallis acknowledged that inappropriate conduct had occurred between them during Thursday's visit, the arrest report said.

Cannon was expected to post the $5,000 bail on the sex charge, which draws one to four years in prison, and be released. He faces a Dec. 5 initial appearance before Las Vegas Justice of the Peace Diana Sullivan. Wallis is to appear before Sullivan later in the week.

In the arrest report, Detective Aaron Stanton said the late afternoon meeting between Cannon and Wallis, which took place on the fourth floor of the detention center's north tower, lasted 26 minutes.

Stanton described in detail the sexual contact he saw on the video recording, the report showed. Stanton and his partner, Detective Mark Gregory, confronted Cannon with the allegations in the lobby of the Regional Justice Center during the normal morning rush hour Monday.

While being questioned in a room off to the side of the lobby, Cannon at first denied being given oral sex but later admitted it, Stanton wrote.

Cannon told the detectives that he has been on medication and hasn't had sex with his wife for 14 years and that Wallis wanted to marry him when she got out of jail.

According to the report, Cannon said jail officials recently banned him from having contact visits at the detention center.

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