Man, 72, charged with sexual assault pleads not guilty

A 72-year-old man charged with sexually assaulting a 5-year-old girl in 1998 pleaded not guilty Tuesday.

Defense attorney Robert Draskovich said his client, Fermin Ivan Perez, has maintained his innocence since he was arrested last month.

Perez faces eight felony counts, including one count each of first-degree kidnapping and lewdness with a minor with a deadly weapon and six counts of armed sexual assault with a victim younger than 14, according to court records. He also is charged with one count of open and gross lewdness, a misdemeanor.

If convicted, Perez could face 35 years to life in prison.

The victim, now 17, is alleged to have recently remembered where the assault occurred on July 12, 1998, after she drove past a church and saw a house on the property.

The teen said memories flooded her mind as she and her mother drove past the St. Viator Catholic Community, on Flamingo Road near Eastern Avenue, according to a Las Vegas police report.

Police arrested Perez, who has no criminal record, at his North Las Vegas home after DNA testing is alleged to have linked him to the incident.

Perez remained in the Clark County Detention Center, held on $250,000 bail .