Las Vegas Sun

March 29, 2024

Report: Metro cop lured girls to his Laughlin home for sex acts

Christopher Peto

Metro Police

Christopher Peto

The teenage girls and the middle-age man met at a convenience store in Laughlin.

An arrangement was reached over text messages: One of the girls needed money for food, and Christopher Peto had cash. All the 14-year-old girl had to do for $100, she was told, was to kiss him.

So, when he pulled up in his gray sedan, the girl walked up to the car, exchanged conversation and “pecked” his lips.

Peto, 47, was an officer with Metro Police, which has law enforcement jurisdiction in the city about 100 driving miles southeast of Las Vegas. He was arrested on Jan. 31 on counts of lewdness with a child, soliciting a child for prostitution, kidnapping and child abuse.

The arrest report outlines the alleged kiss that 2018 summer day at a gas station, but also an instance in which he is accused of driving the girl and at least one other teen to his house, engaging in sexual and lewd acts with them. He’s also alleged to have hounded at least one of them afterward for nude photographs in exchange for money. 

Since they’re minors, the victims’ names are redacted, making the report difficult to follow. One of the victims was under 14, charges suggest.

A girl told detectives about several visits to Peto’s house, where he would allegedly provide alcohol. 

An anonymous tipster contacted Metro on Jan. 24, alleging that two teenagers from the Laughlin Jr./Sr. High School were “having sex with a male who is much older than they.”

The relationships, the person said, had been going on for about 18 months. A week after the tip, Peto was in custody.

In an interview, a girl told police about the 2018 kiss and a half-dozen visits to Peto’s house, according to the report. While at his home in 2019, she said Peto offered them money to perform sexual acts on him, which they did, according to the report.

At least one of the girls described feeling uncomfortable and was pressured to have sex with Peto.

Peto told detectives that he knew one of the girls whose mother, “who is struggling financially,” he’d been trying to date, according to his arrest report. He denied receiving nude photos from the girls and denied having sex with minors. His attorney did not return a message seeking comment Friday.

Peto remained booked at the Clark County Detention Center, and is scheduled to appear in front of a Laughlin judge on Thursday.