A young girl visiting from California was allegedly assaulted by a homeless man on Aug. 20 in a local park.
The assault happened in the man's bathroom of Johnson Park on Concord Street near Balzar Avenue.
The girl, who had been catching butterflies with other children, initially went to the women's restroom but left because a man was in it. She decided to use the men's restroom and when she came out of a stall, a man was waiting.
The man reportedly threatened to give her a "whoopin'" and then put his hand down both the front and back of her shorts. He also pulled his pants down.
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The girl was able to push him away and ran to her mother, who was sitting in their parked vehicle.
The mother immediately rushed to the bathroom to confront the man. He began walking away. The mother then asked nearby couple if she could use their phone to call police. The man punched the homeless man in the face when he heard what happened. But, the homeless man was able to run away.
The mother refused to give up though and began searching for the homeless man before the police arrived. Once the police did arrive, other people in the area who had seen the homeless man before pointed the police in the direction of a woman who knew him.
That woman was able to identify him.
Three days later, police arrested 54-year-old Marc Wheeler. He was booked into Clark County Detention Center on Aug. 23 on two counts of sexual assault against a child under the age of 14 and one count of kidnapping.
