Embattled Las Vegas sergeant accused of bathroom filming; wife says ‘no crime committed’
A Clark County grand jury has again indicted suspended Metropolitan Police Department Sgt. Kevin Menon, this time on 28 counts of capturing the private area of another person, prosecutors said Friday, but the women identified as victims are denying anything criminal occurred.
Menon, 43, has been accused of illegally detaining people on the Strip and possessing hundreds of sexual images of young girls.
On Sept. 27, while he was on bail in the detention case, Menon installed a camera in a home bathroom vent, according to Chief Deputy District Attorney Christopher Hamner. Two days later, Hamner said, Menon set up another camera.
Detectives discovered 96 videos showing Menon’s wife and sister-in-law using the bathroom, the prosecutor said. Twenty-eight videos showed their genitalia or buttocks, according to Hamner.
“In all of these videos, these women have no clue that they are being recorded,” he said.
Hamner said video also captured Menon putting a camera in place and checking the vent.
Reached by phone, Menon’s wife, Natasha Menon, denied that anything illegal had occurred.
“There were no victims,” she said. “There was no crime committed.”
Asked if the recordings were consensual, she did not answer directly. “I am not a victim,” she said. “My sister is not a victim.”
Menon’s sister-in-law, Tamara Russell, also denied being the victim of any crime. “The prosecutors and Metro are trying to destroy my brother-in-law,” she said.
Judge denies prosecutors’ bid for $1 million bail
Chief District Judge Jerry Wiese issued a warrant for Menon and set his bail at $56,000. Prosecutors wanted bail set at $1 million.
“I can’t support $1 million bail,” the judge said. “I’m sorry.”
Defense attorney Robert Draskovich said Menon has posted bail and was expected to be released Friday night. Draskovich said he had “great concern” about the timing of the indictment, which comes after Menon made claims he was targeted after trying to fight a “culture of racism and excessive force” at Metro. Police have said the opposite, that he “was targeting persons of color for illegal arrests.”
In a Monday motion, Chief Deputy District Attorney Nicholas Portz fired back at Menon’s counternarrative, saying Menon’s “illegal arrests of innocent civilians on the Strip that were submitted to the DA’s office for prosecution would constitute the very conduct he now complains of.”
Hamner said authorities could not examine records related to the new case until this month due to a defense delay.
Attorney Dominic Gentile, who represents Menon in the Strip case, said Hamner’s position was “fanciful and absurd.”
He also criticized prosecutors’ use of the grand jury process, which has confidential hearings, as opposed to a public preliminary hearing.
“They want to use a secret proceeding to bring their charges and I’m sure that’s a calculated decision,” he said.
Prosecutor: ‘Very clear he has a sickness’
Hamner said Menon’s phone and computer records showed Menon had a “fetish” for pornography involving urination.
“Aside from being a poor officer who violates public trust, it is very clear he has a sickness, he has an addiction and he can’t control it,” the prosecutor alleged in court. “Because now, it’s not just victimizing people, children somewhere out in the internet. Now, he’s turned to satisfy his addiction by victimizing the people who love him most. And there is absolutely no way at this point that the state and the court and Metro can monitor him to keep the community safe.”
Contact Noble Brigham at nbrigham@reviewjournal.com. Follow @BrighamNoble on X.