Court date set for man accused of tying up children to watch sports

By Las Vegas Sun Staff (contact)

Monday, Sept. 21, 2009 | 12:33 p.m.

A man who police say left two toddlers tied up in a southwest Las Vegas Valley garage in June because he was upset he had to baby-sit his girlfriend's children waived his right today to a preliminary hearing.

Jonathan Weaver, 20, is charged with child abuse and endangerment, kidnapping and attempted murder after Metro Police officers found the 1- and 2-year-old children tied up in their car seats after breaking into an apartment complex garage at about 8:15 p.m. June 9 in the 10000 block of South Spencer Street.

According to arrest records, Weaver was unhappy he had to baby-sit the toddlers and left them tied up in the garage while he went to a bar to watch a basketball game. The children, who had been left in the garage for more than two hours, were also gagged with cloth and a shirt was pulled over the younger child's face, police said.

Weaver was scheduled for a preliminary hearing this morning in front of Las Vegas Justice of the Peace Nancy Oesterle. He will next appear Sept. 28 in front of District Court Judge James Bixler.

He remains in the Clark County Detention Center on a combined $400,000 bond, according to jail records.

According to documents, the toddlers were discovered after a woman walking through the parking lot of the complex where Weaver lives heard crying coming from the garage and alerted police.

Their mother, Amy Beltran, 20, told police she asked Weaver to watch her sons while she attended night school.

Weaver said he was upset he had to baby-sit the children because he had wanted to watch sports, according to the police report. But after leaving the children, he went to a neighborhood bar, the report said.

Weaver initially told police he had left the children with Beltran's parents, but then said he left them in the garage while he went and watched an NBA finals basketball game at a bar, the report said. He reportedly told officers he watched the second half of the game, but didn't realize how long he was gone, the report said.

Weaver reportedly told police he didn't think leaving the children in the garage was a big deal because they have had "camp outs" there in the past.

He said he played with them inside the garage for about 20 minutes and waited for them to fall asleep before leaving, the report said.

Weaver told police he "could not believe what he was about to do next," but he decided to tie the children because he was afraid they would grab tools stored in the garage and hurt themselves, according to the report.

Beltran, who at the time of his arrest was pregnant with Weaver's child, is not facing charges, police said.

She told police she often leaves her sons in Weaver's care and had no concerns about Weaver or his parenting skills.