Man convicted of sexually assaulting tourist in Flamingo bathroom

A 22-year-old man was convicted Friday of sexually assaulting a female tourist inside a bathroom at the Flamingo.

A Clark County jury of seven men and five women took about three hours to find Oreste Perez guilty on charges of sexual assault, kidnapping, battery with the intent to commit sexual assault and coercion.

Prosecutors said Perez followed the 21-year-old woman around the Flamingo, as she wandered through the casino under the influence of alcohol, trying to find an elevator to her hotel room in March 2013.

Prosecutor Marc Schifalacqua called her “an easy target” for Perez, who speaks little English and used a translator at trial.

Defense attorney Violet Radosta said Perez and the women had been holding hands moments before the incident and that the encounter was consensual. Radosta called the victim’s recollection of the encounter “highly suspect.”

During closing arguments, jurors watched surveillance video that showed Perez grabbing the woman’s hand, as she tried to push him away.

Prosecutors said Perez then pulled the woman into a men’s restroom, where he pressed her face against a stall and sexually assaulted her.

Within minutes, another man in the restroom heard the woman crying and saying “please stop,” before knocking on the stall. Another video showed Perez bounding down stairs through the casino and running outside of the building. He was arrested two weeks later at his Las Vegas home.

District Judge David Barker is scheduled to sentence Perez in August. He faces a maximum sentence of 10 years to life in prison on the sexual assault charge alone.

Contact reporter David Ferrara at dferrara@reviewjournal.com or 702-380-1039. Find him on Twitter: @randompoker.