CHRISTINA EICHELKRAUT / PVT Darrin Tuck Sr. stands by as his son's attorney, Chris Rasmussen, speaks to the media after Darrin Tuck Jr. agreed to plead guilty to a gross misdemeanor charge of conspiracy to obstruct a public officer yesterday morning. Advertisement

Darrin Tuck Jr., the resident who found a tape containing child pornography in the desert here last year, pleaded guilty to a gross misdemeanor charge of conspiracy to commit obstruction of a public officer Tuesday, Feb. 12.

The charge carries a maximum sentence of one year in the county jail.

The tape, turned into the Nye County Sheriff's Office some months after Tuck found it, ultimately led to the capture of alleged child molester Chester Stiles, currently in custody in Las Vegas and facing multiple child molestation charges.

The child in the tape was found safe with her mother in Las Vegas and reportedly has no memory of the incident, which occurred in 2004.

Tuck was originally charged with possession of child pornography, a felony that would have marked him as a sex offender for life, but Nye County District Attorney Bob Beckett said the information his office accumulated didn't warrant such a charge.

The district attorney said his office had been working with numerous agencies, including the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department and the FBI, to discover if there was any link between Tuck and Stiles.

"So far nobody has been able to make any connection," Beckett said. "There is no evidence that Tuck was in any way involved in manufacturing or distributing the tape."

In addition, Beckett said the investigation revealed Stiles did, in fact, have a habit of hiding things out in the desert.

"It's very likely (Tuck) could have just come across the tape in the desert," Beckett said.

As such, the district attorney maintained the lesser charge of the plea agreement was more appropriate.

"Darrin Tuck made a terrible judgment error," Beckett said. "What he did wrong was he didn't turn the tape in right away -- he obstructed justice. When the facts were finally put together, this was the right thing to do."

Chris Rasmussen, Tuck's defense attorney, told reporters after the hearing that accepting the fictitious charge, meaning there was no actual conspiracy but that the charge was based on factual events, was "almost a non-decision."

For Darrin Tuck Sr., the hearing marked the beginning of the end of a trying ordeal. "I'm glad it's coming to an end," the father said. "He might've been a bit irresponsible through this whole thing but I believe in his heart his intention was to turn the tape in."

The elder Tuck commented, "No matter what happens, the sheriff's department has tried and convicted him through the media. Now there's a predator sitting in jail, thanks to Darrin."

Nye County Sheriff Tony DeMeo, however, staunchly maintained his original allegations made to the national media during the manhunt that was launched for Stiles last October.

"Speaking on behalf of the Nye County Sheriff's Office, we are not happy with the plea deal at all," DeMeo said. "People investigating this tape know he had the tape for several months, and he didn't turn it in for months, even being aware of the content and that the little girl was in danger."

The sheriff added, "In one sense the deal validates our investigation and suspicion. I think he took the plea deal because the evidence the sheriff's office had accumulated against him."

Beckett, however, stood by the state's decision.

"You may have a very horrific case such as this one," Beckett said. "However, you still have to have the presence of mind to seperate the players and hold each and every defendeant accountable and culpible for their actions, you can't lump it all together no matter how offensive you might have found the crime to be," Beckett said.

"That's the job of a good prosecutor, to do what's fair to each and every defendant," he added.

Stiles pleaded not guilty to child molestation charges in January after refusing a plea agreement proffered by the state.

He is in protective custody in Las Vegas, awaiting trial.