Chester Arthur Stiles is still sought. Advertisement

Darren Tuck has continually been misrepresented to the media by Nye County Sheriff Tony DeMeo, Tom Gibson, one of Tuck's lawyers, said yesterday.

"We're appalled at the lack of concern Sheriff DeMeo has shown for Mr. Tuck's due process rights," Gibson said.

The defense attorney said his office is preparing to file a gag order against the sheriff's office and DeMeo because of alleged misrepresentation of information about his client to the press.

Tuck is the 26-year-old Pahrump resident who turned over to DeMeo's office a videotape of a 3-year-old girl being sexually assaulted.

Gibson said ultimately the statements by DeMeo could hurt Tuck should his client ever face charges relating to the videotape and the case goes to trial.

According to the sheriff's office, Tuck turned in the videotape Sept. 9, claiming he found the tape in the desert.

Although authorities said they didn't believe Tuck's story because the tape wasn't weather-worn or dirty, Gibson said the good condition of the tape could be explained.

Gibson personally visited the site near Bannavitch Street and Highway 372 yesterday, where Tuck told him the tape was found.

"There's this misconception that my client found the tape lying out in the middle of the desert, and that's not true," Gibson said.

The defense attorney said Tuck actually found the tape about 10 feet away from a paved road, lying beneath a crushed Mesquite tree.

As for the tape not having any "proof dirt," Gibson argued "There's no dirt out there, it's all hard clay."

In addition, Tuck's lawyer said information given by Det. David Boruchowitz about Tuck's alleged involvement in a burglary ring was "just another attempt by the sheriff's office to discredit Mr. Tuck."

Boruchowitz said at a press conference last week that Tuck's turning in the tape coincided with the break-up of a large burglary ring the sheriff's office was investigating at the time, from which quite a few people were arrested.

The detective added that Tuck was directly associated with some of the people in the burglary ring, although no link between that case and Tuck's possession of the videotape was ever defined.

Gibson said he didn't understand why the sheriff's office had spoken to the press about an unrelated case.

According to the sheriff's office, Tuck was arrested after the sheriff's office said it received statements from several people who said Tuck had shown them the tape.

Although he was booked on charges of possession of child pornography, he has not been formally charged and was released on his own recognizance.

Tuck's attorney, however, said that simply wasn't true.

"No one else ever viewed the pornography on the tape," Gibson said.

The lawyer said what actually happened was Tuck had shown the cassette to friends when asking them what he should do about it, but he never actually played it for anyone else.

"He always had the intention to turn in the tape," Gibson said, adding that the friends Tuck confided in had told Tuck to destroy the tape.

Authorities maintain that Tuck had the videotape since May, but Gibson said that's just "another exaggeration."

Gibson said although Tuck did have the tape in his possession for a period of time (he would not specify how long, stating the information could affect a possible future trial), Tuck did not have the tape for as long as five months.

The sheriff's department scheduled a polygraph interview of Tuck last Friday, which District Attorney Bob Beckett said Tuck failed.

Yet again, Gibson contested the propriety of that statement being made to the media.

"He did not pass the polygraph to Mr. Beckett's satisfaction," Gibson conceded, but added that the option to have Tuck tested by an independent paleographer, not in law enforcement, was still an option.

Furthermore, Gibson said that pursuant to an agreement between his office and the state, the results of the polygraph test were not to have been discussed with the media.

Last Friday, the Department of Parole and Probation discovered that Tuck was in violation of parole due to failure to pay child support.

Authorities could not locate Tuck Friday, but last Sunday he turned himself in to authorities.

"He didn't even know he was wanted," Gibson said of Tuck. "I don't know why the sheriff had to make it out like there was this big search for him. As soon as he found out, he turned himself in."

Gibson added that Tuck had been convicted of non-support.

According to DeMeo, the district attorney's office is prepared to file a charge of possession of child pornography, which carries a sentence of up to six years in prison, as well as a potential charge of promoting child pornography, which has a maximum life sentence.

As of this writing, Gibson said no charges in relation to the videotape had been filed.

Meanwhile, authorities are still looking for Chester Arthur Stiles, 37, who has been elevated from a person of interest to a suspect in the assault depicted by the videotape.

Stiles is 6-feet, 2-inches tall and weighs 175 pounds.

Stiles was described by Boruchowitz as a "several-tiered family friend" and is not related to the victim.

According to CNN, Tina Allen, a former girlfriend of Stiles, believes she may have been the one who brought the victim and Stiles together.

Allen reportedly said she was involved in an on-again, off-again relationship with Stiles for a decade, and during the course of their relationship brought Stiles to an apartment where her children were living. Also living at the apartment, Allen said, were a family friend and the victim.

According to Beckett, who said his office has been in contact with a person familiar with Stiles (not Allen), the suspect claims to be a former Navy Seal and have a black belt in martial arts.

Beckett said Stiles is a "survivalist type" who claims to be able to live for days in the wild without food or water.

In addition, Beckett said Stiles was known to have said of law enforcement agencies, "They'll never take me alive."

Stiles has a whole list of state and national authorities who are looking for him due to incidents prior to his suspected involvement in this case.

He is wanted by the FBI on a fugitive warrant, as well as by the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department for sexual assault and lewdness with a minor under the age of 14.

The latter charge is for an incident that occurred in April 2004 where he allegedly molested a 6-year-old girl.

The nearly month-long search for the girl seen on the videotape ended after the sheriff's office released a possible name of the victim, now 7, to the press.

She was 3 at the time of the assault.

Still photographs of the child taken from the video had been released during previous weeks in hopes of generating information that would possibly identify her.

Ultimately, it was the decision to release the victim's name that led authorities literally to her doorstep, however.

Boruchowitz said his office received a phone call informing them of the victim's possible identity and address. When initial attempts to contact the family were unsuccessful, Boruchowitz hit the road and headed to Las Vegas.

While driving he was connected to the girl's mother, who had been trying to contact the NCSO after a phone call from a friend informed her of the search for her daughter.

Soon the detective knocked on the door of the girl's residence early Friday evening and said he was "ecstatic" to find "a very happy 7-year-old-girl" who, he reportedly said, "liked playing with my police stuff and I played with her toys."

Boruchowitz said the mother was unaware of the ongoing search for her daughter because she didn't watch the news.

He added that she was completely unaware of the videotaped assault on her daughter, and when the mother learned about it, Boruchowitz said she "cried a lot."

As of this writing, however, Stiles is still free and has yet to be charged.