LAS VEGAS (KLAS) — A judge reduced bail from $500,000 to $30,000 for an accused serial rapist who is in the United States illegally, the 8 News Now Investigators confirmed Friday.
Carlos Nava, 47, is accused of raping one girl and four women in southern Nevada.
Clark County District Court Judge Christy Craig set Nava’s bond at $30,000 after a Feb. 16 hearing, according to court records. Craig noted Nava’s ties to the community and how he had family in court including three children and a sister, his length of residence in Las Vegas since 2004, and that he is employed, according to an order dated Feb. 23.
Judge Craig also noted that the state failed to provide any evidence of willful failure to appear and that he has a minimal criminal history. Nava’s bail was previously set to $500,000 by Clark County District Court Judge Jerry Wiese after a grand jury indicted him.
Clark County District Attorney Steve Wolfson told the 8 News Now Investigators that Judge Craig made the decision to reduce bail to $30,000 over prosecutors’ “strenuous objections.” Prosecutors believe that Nava is a flight risk and a danger to the community, Wolfson said.
The 8 News Now Investigators previously reported that Nava re-entered the United States illegally at least eight times since 2002, according to an Immigration and Customs Enforcement spokesman. While he was granted voluntary removal to Mexico several times, he was also removed after the placement of immigration detainers at least twice. He had been encountered by law enforcement in California, Arizona and Las Vegas.
Nava’s criminal history includes arrests for battery and domestic violence and he was last removed from the U.S. to Mexico in 2020, according to ICE.
Nava was indicted on Feb. 2 for alleged sexual assaults occurring between 2009 and 2015 involving four alleged victims, court records show.
Nava’s DNA matches rape kits from three of the alleged victims, prosecutors said. A fourth alleged victim identified Nava. A fifth victim could not be located again.
An arrest report alleges the following:
July 10, 2022: A sex worker told police that she agreed to have sex in exchange for $100 with a man who picked her up in a white truck in front of The Orleans Casino. The woman told police that the man refused to stop performing a sex act, held a knife to her throat, removed a condom and sexually assaulted her, stole her money and phone, shattered a glass bottle on her head, and chased her as she tried to leave. The woman escaped and ran naked to a nearby Walgreens for help. Detectives reviewed surveillance from nearby businesses.
Eleven days later, police stopped Nava. A search warrant was issued for his DNA and to process his white truck for evidence, according to police. Detectives said they found a backpack with latex gloves and 17 different pairs of women’s panties folded, stacked and with a rubber band around them.
“Though rare, people who commit sexual assaults related crimes have been known to keep property belonging to victims as a trophy of the incident,” the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department arrest report stated. Nava was arrested. In October, the DNA was linked to four other sex crimes.
On August 12, 2003, an underage individual said a man picked her up and they agreed to have sex. She said the man took her to an abandoned house where they had consensual sex. A friend of the alleged victim called police. She decided that she did not want to prosecute, according to the arrest report.
On February 4, 2010, a woman said that she mistakenly got into a car that she thought was her friend’s in Henderson. She told police that once inside the car, the man driving pulled out a knife, locked the doors, and said “I want sex.” She also told police that the man demanded that she remove her clothes and sexually assaulted her. A healthcare worker who performed a sexual assault nurse examination told police that she believed that the alleged victim was mentally delayed.
On March 16, 2013, a sex worker told police that while she was on Boulder Highway soliciting, she got into a vehicle. She said the driver did not like the price that she was offering, put a knife to her throat and sexually assaulted her. She told police that she was scared because she did not want to go to jail for being a runaway.
On July 17, 2015, a woman told police that while she was looking for marijuana on Desert Inn Road, she got into a car. She said that the driver pulled out a knife, told her to take her clothes off and sexually assaulted her. On November 2, 2022, police talked to the alleged victim again. She said that she was actually a sex worker soliciting on Boulder Highway. She said that she had escaped from the suspect’s car by climbing through the driver’s side window and ran from the car naked. When police showed her panties found in Nava’s possession, the woman identified a pair as the same style that she would have been wearing.
Police said the string of incidents all have similarities as the victims were sex workers who were picked up on the street by the suspect.
As of March 3, Nava remained in custody despite posting bond the day after Judge Craig’s decision. The 8 News Now Investigators have learned that Nava has an immigration hold.
A Metro spokesperson said Nava posted bail, however, his immigration warrant disqualifies him from house arrest.
The next hearing for Nava’s case is set for April 20.
