Mellen, Kauffman win sexual assault case in Superior Court

Dan Mellen and Katie Kauffman won a not-guilty verdict on May 8, 2025, for a client accused of sexually abusing a child he used to babysit.

The client was charged in October 2023 in Clark County Superior Court with one count of rape of a child in the first degree, two counts of child molestation in the first degree and one count of rape of a child in the second degree.

The client, 40, lost his job as an emergency dispatcher because of the allegations. If convicted he faced a minimum of 27 years in prison.

But a jury unanimously agreed to acquit him of all charges following a three-day trial and approximately eight hours of deliberations.

The alleged victim, now 20, first made the allegations in 2022 to his grandmother after his grandmother had been making homophobic remarks about the client. The grandmother asked the alleged victim if the client had ever sexually abused him; he initially said no then later said yes. His mother contacted police, and the case was investigated by detectives from the Children’s Justice Center.

According to the alleged victim, the abuse happened when he was between the ages of 8 to 13. During that time, the client was his frequent babysitter. Additionally, after the child’s stepfather died and his mother was unable to care for him, the child lived with the client for a few months.

At trial, the prosecutor did not present any witnesses who could corroborate the accusations. She essentially said in closing arguments that the jury should just believe the alleged victim.

During closing arguments, Mellen wrote a list of 26 reasons that would justify an acquittal. Among them, he told the jury that when the alleged victim was living with the client the client did not act like a typical abuser. He did not isolate the child. He had the child talk to a counselor to help him cope with his stepfather’s death. The child’s grades improved when he was living with the client, Mellen said.

Mellen also pointed out inconsistencies by the alleged victim during pre-trial interviews, and the fact he told one interviewer that he may be remembering two of the incidents from a dream.