Pennsylvania man gets 14 years in Southern Nevada sex abuse case

A former Southern Nevada man was sentenced to 14 years in federal prison Tuesday for the sexual abuse of three boys over a three-year period and streaming abuse sessions with one of the boys in Yahoo chat rooms.

James Killian, who lived in the Echo Bay trailer park at the Lake Mead National Recreational Area when the crimes were committed, also was ordered to spend a lifetime on supervised release after he gets out of prison. He’ll have to register as a sex offender and his computer and Internet use will be restricted.

In handing out the sentence, Senior U.S. District Judge Kent Dawson called Killian’s conduct “abhorrent” and “sickening.”

Killian, his hair in a ponytail and dressed in detention center garb, did not address Dawson in court when given a chance to speak. He had agreed to the sentence in a plea deal with federal prosecutors.

The three boys, who lived in the trailer park, were 8, 11 and 13 respectively when Killian began to abuse them, according to the 13-page plea agreement. The abuse occurred between March 1, 2000, and Oct. 31, 2003.

All three brothers, now grown men, told prosecutors they were happy with the deal calling for the 14-year prison sentence, Assistant U.S. Attorney Nadia Ahmed said Tuesday.

Killian, 62, was originally charged with sexual abuse and sexual assault of minors in an eight-count federal indictment in February 2012, but remained at large until his arrest four months later in Pennsylvania, where he was living at the time. He has been in federal custody since then.

In December, Killian, who left Southern Nevada in 2004, pleaded guilty to one felony count of sexual abuse in a superseding indictment as part of his deal with prosecutors.

According to the agreement, the three abused brothers were among a group of neighborhood boys who regularly spent time at Killian’s home at the trailer park playing video games.

Killian engaged in oral and anal sex with the 8-year-old boy several times a week for weeks at a time and during the summer of 2001 streamed the oral sex sessions in the Yahoo chat rooms, the plea agreement said.

For nearly three years, Killian also engaged in oral sex with the 11-year-old brother two to five times a week, often buying him gifts and meals at restaurants to keep him returning as a sex partner.

Killian admitted that he bought the oldest brother a variety of gifts, including a laptop and video games, so that he would continue to have oral sex with him. Between 2001 and 2003, the boy is alleged to have been abused 250 to 300 times.

The oldest brother described the sexual abuse as a “morning ritual” for the defendant. The two would have a meal together and afterward, Killian would say, “I’m ready for dessert now” and perform oral sex on the boy, according to the plea agreement.

The three boys didn’t tell their parents about the abuse because they were embarrassed and afraid of what their father might do to Killian.

It took a while, but agents with the U.S. National Park Service eventually put together the criminal case.

Contact Jeff German at jgerman@reviewjournal.com or 702-380-8135. Find him on Twitter @JGermanRJ.