Man convicted of kidnapping, sexual assault

Eight years have passed since authorities first charged Steven Newberg with sexually assaulting two Las Vegas prostitutes.

On Saturday, a Clark County jury convicted him after a weeklong trial.

Newberg, 45, was convicted of eight felonies, including multiple counts of first-degree kidnapping and sexual assault.

The jury acquitted Newberg of a robbery charge.

A sentencing hearing was scheduled for June 10 before Judge Michelle Leavitt, according to jail records.

The trial featured graphic video footage of Newberg sexually assaulting the two prostitutes and testimony from one of the victims.

The videos showed the women with their hands tied behind their backs.

Both victims told authorities Newberg had a weapon and forced them to perform sex acts.

Prosecutors said the women had made poor choices, but they did not choose to be raped.

One of the women, who is no longer a prostitute, testified at the trial that she thought Newberg was interested only in photographing her, but when they arrived at a construction site, he pulled a knife and tied her hands behind her back with black plastic zip ties.

Newberg then proceeded to videotape them engaging in different sexual acts, the woman said.

She said she did not wish to perform the acts that were seen in the video, but she did not fight Newberg because she feared for her life.

Defense attorneys tried to suggest that the prostitutes were crack addicts who would do anything for money. The attorneys suggested the sex was consensual and that Newberg paid the prostitutes.

One of the prostitutes Newberg was convicted of sexually assaulting, Genia Polischuk, died before he was brought to trial. Her body was found wrapped in a blanket near Interstate 15, about 45 miles outside of Las Vegas, in fall 2003.

Though Polischuk is dead, prosecutors used testimony she offered at a preliminary hearing for Newberg.

Polischuk was deaf. In a video, Newberg is heard making explicit and degrading comments about her and her handicap, according to his arrest report.

Early on in the investigation, after detectives found a cache of videos at Newberg's home, Las Vegas police said he was a suspect in as many as 10 videotaped rapes.

Newberg is already serving a sentence of 33 years to life at High Desert State Prison for sexually assaulting a teenage cousin.

Newberg was convicted in April 2003 of multiple sex crime felonies, including six counts of sexual assault of a victim under 16 years of age and two counts of using a minor in producing pornography.

Contact reporter Francis McCabe at fmccabe@reviewjournal.com or 702-380-1039.