Brother accused of rape, pimping

Rodney Nickerson always looked out for his mentally disabled sister. When kids made fun of her at school, he stood up to them, even if it meant throwing punches, their mother said.

He always protected her and would never think of hurting her, she said.

And no matter what police say, Deborah Nickerson will stand by her son.

"The cops are trying to get me to turn against my son," she said Friday. "I know in my heart that my son didn't do this."

Las Vegas police arrested Rodney Nickerson, 34, last week on charges of raping his 36-year-old sister, who has the mental capacity of a young child, and then trying to pimp her out on the Internet.

Detectives started the case after a tipster led them to an ad on craigslist.org that read: 34-year-old male, looking for someone open-minded, straight or bisexual, into taboo, family fun.

"I will explain if I get a response," wrote the east Las Vegas resident, who police believe was Rodney Nickerson.

An undercover Las Vegas police officer answered the ad, which asked that the person "be very open minded and willing to be a little forceful at first," according to a police report.

An e-mail response set up a meeting for March 22, but the suspect didn't show. They exchanged e-mails and set up another meeting for the following week at a Starbucks coffee shop near Sahara Avenue and Nellis Boulevard.

The suspect didn't show for that meeting, either. That's when police showed up at the Nickersons' front door on the 6000 block of Sahara. Detectives had tracked the e-mails to an America Online account that was registered to Deborah Nickerson.

During an interview at the house, Nickerson's sister told police her brother got on top of her and hurt her "there" while pointing to her genitals, according to the police report.

That happened four times, she said, and her brother also took naked photos of her and fondled her breasts, the report said. She also told police that her brother once took her to a friend's house, where the friend rubbed her chest.

Nickerson told her he wanted to be "husband and wife" and warned her not to tell anyone what had happened because they could get into trouble, the report said.

Police interviewed Nickerson, who admitted to touching his sister but denied having sex with her, the report said.

He also said he had talked with four men over the Internet about having sex with his sister, the report said.

One man came to their house just before Christmas, but when he started to fondled her breasts, Rodney Nickerson told the man to leave, the report said.

Police arrested Nickerson, who was held Friday at the Clark County Detention Center on $800,000 bail. Nickerson, a bartender, has been charged with seven criminal counts, including sexual assault, attempted sexual assault, abuse of a vulnerable person and open and gross lewdness.

He faces an April 30 preliminary hearing.

"It seems pretty clear that the older brother, the sibling, was taking advantage of her," said Chief Deputy District Attorney Tom Carroll, who added that Nickerson also might be charged with incest.

In a call from the jail, Nickerson said he wasn't thinking straight when he posted the ad.

"I was not doing nothing to my sister," he said. "I had no intention of doing so."

Deborah Nickerson believes him.

"They railroaded that kid," the mother said. "He deserves to be in (jail) for a while for putting that on the Internet. He deserves to be punished for that. But he doesn't deserve to be punished for sexual assault because he didn't do it."

She pointed to the missed meetings, saying they were proof that her son didn't want anyone to have sex with his sister. Her daughter told her that nothing had happened, and she hasn't behaved any differently, Deborah Nickerson said.

"They're trying to pit me against both my kids," she said. "I can't. I love them both, and I know he didn't do it. ... I don't care what those cops say. I'm not turning against my son."