The Washoe County District Attorney’s Office has secured a conviction in a lewdness with a child prosecution after a weeklong jury trial in Washoe County District Court. The case was investigated through the Washoe County Child Advocacy Center (CAC) and the investigation was led by detectives with the Family Crimes Unit with the Reno Police Department (RPD). Sentencing in the case is set for June 7, 2018 and the defendant faces the possibility of multiple life sentences.
Christopher E. Kindler, 43, from Reno, was found guilty last Friday on five counts of Lewdness with a Child Under the Age of Fourteen and one count of Attempted Lewdness with a Child Under the Age of Fourteen after a jury trial that began last Monday. Kindler was accused of having fondled and attempted to fondle the private areas of three male victims ranging in age from 11-12 years old.
Detectives with RPD began an investigation into Kindler in December, 2016 when the mother of a 12 year old boy reported finding disturbing text messages on her son’s phone sent from a neighbor identified as Kindler. The messages involved discussion of Kindler having taken a bath with the boy and other communications that were sexual in nature. The boy’s mother immediately called police and an investigation into the allegations of abuse began. The child victim was interviewed at the CAC and the case led to two additional male victims, who were also neighbors of Kindler. These two other boys reported similar incidents of Kindler having touched or trying to touch their genitals. Based on the interviews and additional evidence collected during the investigation, including cell phone data, Kindler was arrested. This office filed criminal charges against him and the case proceeded to trial.
During trial, Deputy District Attorney Amos Stege presented evidence showing that the defendant bought the boys gifts, allowed them to use his computer, used terms of endearment, and would hug and kiss the boys. The prosecutor argued this was all part of “grooming” the boys in order to overcome their resistance to sexual touching. “These boys were very brave for testifying against Kindler”, added Stege, “We are relieved to have a predator like Kindler off the street”.
