Man arrested in sexual assault of teen

A 44-year-old Las Vegas man has been arrested for sexually assaulting his neighbor. Metro Police said the man had been stalking the teenager for at least three weeks.

James Hart was taken into custody at his apartment Monday night, and booked into the Clark County Detention Center without bail on two counts of sexual assault and one count of attempted sexual assault.

The 17-year-old victim had been walking home from her grandmother's house March 6 about 9:30 p.m. when Hart allegedly jumped out and grabbed her while hiding on property at Pennwood Avenue and Arville Street.

When she notified authorities, she claimed to not know her attacker.

But two months later, on May 6, while she was in a neighborhood 7-Eleven convenience store, she recognized the man who was her attacker.

"The people at 7-Eleven were helpful in getting us the license plate of his car, as well as a description," said Detective Matt McCarthy. "We were able to do a records check and find out where he lived, but it took some detective work to find him."

The woman had originally described her attacker as bald and about 5 feet 9, but the man she recognized had short hair and is 5 feet 10.

"She identified him in a line-up, and then again in a one-on-one," McCarthy said of the two opportunities victims have to identify suspects without the suspect seeing the victim.

McCarthy said Hart lives about eight apartment buildings away from the victim, and that the victim later recalled seeing the man several times before.

"She didn't put it together when she was attacked though," McCarthy said. "The area where they live is so populated with strange people. But she knew it was him the moment she saw him."

McCarthy could not disclose other specifics, which have left the department confident they've found the right man.

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