LAS VEGAS (KLAS) — A recently retired Clark County School District teacher is facing several charges, including producing child pornography, after he allegedly molested a student at his school for nearly three years, according to a report from North Las Vegas police.
Darryl Lancaster, 58, faces eight counts of lewdness with a child under the age of 14, two counts of luring a minor, and one count of producing child pornography, records showed.
On the morning of May 26, NLVPD received a report of a possible sexual assault of a child under 14. Officers spoke to the victim’s father who said that he and his wife woke up to the sound of their dog barking around 1:30 a.m. The father told police that the dog usually stays in their daughter’s room so they went to go and check on her, however, she was not there, the arrest report said.
The victim’s family began searching for the child. Around the same time, a person dropped her off near her home, North Las Vegas police said.
When she went back to the house, her family went through her phone, finding text messages between she and a teacher, police said. Her parents put the phone number into Google and found that it belonged to Lancaster, who they knew was a teacher at the school the victim previously attended.
The family told police that Lancaster would often walk the victim out to her parent’s car when they would pick her up from school, the report said.
While going through the phone, her parents found explicit messages and photos between Lancaster and the victim. In the messages, Lancaster asks the victim to send him explicit photos of herself, police said.
The victim told detectives that she started texting Lancaster in October 2020 however, prior to that, they would spend time together at school. The victim said while at school, Lancaster would often inappropriately touch her leg and would often kiss her. She also told police that they kissed at a festival the school hosts in the fall, the report said.
The victim told police that on May 13, Lancaster picked her up and drove her to a park down the street from her home. While at the park Lancaster kissed the victim and said he wanted to “rape” her, the arrest report said. The victim then asked Lancaster to take her home.
On May 23, Lancaster picked the victim up again and brought her to Nature Discovery Park. After they parked, Lancaster started to smoke weed and offered the victim some. When she declined, they walked around the park and sat down on a bench. Lancaster kissed the victim before walking back to the car and taking her home, the report said.
The victim told police that she never had sex with Lancaster, the report said.
Police arrested Lancaster on May 26. He was taken to the North Las Vegas Community Correctional Center.
Judge Natalie Tyrrell set bail at $25,000 during a court appearance Tuesday. He remained in custody as of Tuesday afternoon, records showed.
