Prosecutors want judge to review photo evidence in Metro sergeant’s case

Prosecutors said in court Wednesday that they want a judge to view photos associated with new charges faced by a Metropolitan Police Department sergeant accused of both illegally detaining people on the Las Vegas Strip and possession of child sexual abuse material.

Sgt. Kevin Menon, free on $100,000 bail, was in court for a hearing on a motion submitted by prosecutors to increase Menon’s bail regarding charges of oppression and battery, among others.

Menon’s attorney, Dominic Gentile, said he was only served this motion Tuesday morning, and District Judge Ronald Israel said the bail issue will be dealt with on Nov. 6, when Menon is due back in court.

In court, prosecutors Nicholas Portz and Christopher Hamner asked the judge to review images associated with Menon’s newer case, in which he is accused of possessing more than 200 images depicting young girls in a sexual manner.

Prosecutors previously said in court that the images were discovered on the sergeant’s laptops during a search of his residence after Menon was accused of forcefully bumping into a person on a walkway between two Strip hotels, pretending to be a “suspicious person” to engage people in conversation before detaining them and shoving a fellow Metro officer.

“I’m going to object to it,” Gentile said in court Wednesday, telling Israel that reviewing the images would take around two hours. Israel said he would address the matter in court Nov. 6.

Neither Kevin Menon nor his wife, Natasha Menon, who also attended the hearing, commented on either pending case, and a woman who accompanied the couple to court said their position was “no comment.”

Gentile, Portz and Hamner declined to comment on the dispute over the photos.