Despite attempts to dismiss charges, a Las Vegas judge has upheld the indictment of Tom Alexandrovich, an Israeli cybersecurity official caught in a child sex sting operation. Alexandrovich was arrested on August 6 during a sting operation conducted by Henderson police and federal authorities; he faces a charge of luring children or mentally ill persons with the use of technology to engage in sexual conduct, according to the Las Vegas Review-Journal.
Following the indictment by a Clark County grand jury in October, defense attorneys David Chesnoff and Richard Schonfeld filed documents questioning the grand jury process; they pointed out that Pure, the app where Alexandrovich initially contacted the undercover agent, mandates users to prove they are over 18; however, the agent testified she did not recall whether she had uploaded identification to the app, as stated by 8NewsNow.
Clark County District Court Judge Tina Talim, however, determined that the prosecutors had established probable cause to the grand jurors and conveyed evidence that could potentially benefit Alexandrovich. She said, "The petitioner continued communications after the decoy explicitly disclosed being 15," and "The chats… contained discussions about sexual conduct," adding that "The petitioner agreed on items associated with sexual activity," and noting his efforts to encourage the minor to concoct a ruse to leave her home, as noted by 8NewsNow.
In defense of Alexandrovich, Chesnoff argued that the police operation was purposefully designed to lure him and criticized the handling of the case by authorities, saying, "They needed to upload a government-issued ID and pass age verification before they could communicate with Mr. Alexandrovich and he was aware of that." He plans to appeal Judge Talim's decision. Chesnoff moreover claimed that prosecutors presented the defense's letter to the grand jury in an "unprecedented" move but failed to adequately explain the contents, according to arguments obtained by the Las Vegas Review-Journal.
The trial for Tom Alexandrovich is set for March, while he remains out of custody after posting $10,000 bail and has since left the country, the 8NewsNow report confirmed his plea of not guilty to the charge.
