Woman found guilty of taking child near school

The second of two women accused of snatching a 6-year-old boy off the street near Mackey Elementary School in September 2008 was convicted of felony conspiracy to commit kidnapping and false imprisonment, a gross misdemeanor.

Authorities said Elaine Clermont and another woman took the first-grader to make a point about lax school security.

Clermont could be sentenced up to six years for the felony and one year for the misdemeanor.

In May, the other woman involved in the case, Laurinda Drake, was acquitted of the same charges by a different jury.

Drake picked the boy up in her minivan near Mackey, a North Las Vegas school near Commerce Street and Carey Avenue, and drove to Clermont's home.

The pair called school officials and police by phone about four times to alert them that they had the student.

The pair refused to return the boy to Mackey but surrendered him at the Clark County School District's headquarters about 90 minutes after taking him.

The boy was unharmed.

Both Drake and Clermont had children who attended Mackey at the time of the incident. Clermont had a reputation among school officials as a gadfly. Drake was described as an unassuming parent who volunteered at the school.