Las Vegas man arrested in child pornography sting

A Las Vegas man arrested in a child pornography sting is accused of distributing graphic sexual images of children to an undercover law enforcement agent.

Daniel Rhees, 27, was arrested Dec. 16 in Las Vegas as part of an investigation by a law enforcement Child Exploitation Task Force. The task force consists of investigators from the Federal Bureau of Investigation as well as police agencies throughout Southern Nevada.

A Metropolitan police arrest report indicates an undercover officer from the task force was online when contacted Dec. 4 via a private message. The sender of the message ultimately encouraged the officer to communicate online via a platform that the sender thought was untraceable.

Eleven days later, the undercover officer and the sender of the message communicated again, and this time the sender shared graphic images of child pornography, police said.

A subsequent investigation identified Rhees as the sender, police said in the arrest report.

When questioned by police, detectives said Rhees confessed.

“When asked why he thought law enforcement personnel was there at his vehicle and residence, Rhees delivered a summary of lewd acts involving the collection of child pornography on the internet,” police said.

Police said they confiscated a hard drive with files of child pornography on it.

Rhees now is charged with 14 felonies including multiple counts of lewdness with a child and preparing pornography with a minor, Las Vegas Justice Court records show. A preliminary hearing in the case is scheduled for Jan. 20 in Justice Court. Rhees remains in custody at the Clark County Detention Center.

Contact Glenn Puit by email at gpuit@reviewjournal.com. Follow @GlennatRJ on Twitter.