Police: Kindergarten teacher arrested in kidnapping denied knowledge of missing teen’s whereabouts

By Brian Nordli

Published Monday, Nov. 4, 2013 | 12:53 p.m.

Updated Monday, Nov. 4, 2013 | 1:08 p.m.

Details are emerging in last week's arrest of a Las Vegas kindergarten teacher involving a missing teen girl found in his home.

Authorities reported the 16-year-old girl who was missing for more than two months was found Friday, unharmed and in good health, inside the Las Vegas residence of Melvyn P. Sprowson, 44, a first-year kindergarten teacher at Wengert Elementary School.

Clark County School District Police and Henderson Police used social media to find the girl at Sprowson’s apartment in the 4900 block of East Russell Road. The girl answered the door when police arrived and had been at the home willingly, CCSD Police Sgt. Mitch Maciszak said.

CCSD Police arrested Sprowson on Friday at the school on counts of kidnapping, child abuse, contributing to the delinquency of a child and obstruction.

While the alleged crime was not a kidnap by force, Maciszak said, the teen legally cannot give consent to live with an adult as a minor. Additionally, Sprowson denied knowledge of the girl’s whereabouts when police interviewed him on Thursday and Friday.

The teen was transported to Southern Nevada Children’s Assessment Center, where a forensic interview was completed. She was then put in her parent’s custody, Maciszak said.

Sprowson remains in custody at the Clark County Detention Center without bond. Formal charges have not been filed against Sprowson, according to a spokeswoman for the Clark County District Attorney's Office.