Las Vegas teen charged after alleged brutal group sexual assault on private school field trip caught on video
Las Vegas teen charged after alleged brutal group sexual assault on private school field trip caught on video
EDITOR’S NOTE: The following story contains graphic content about an alleged sexual assault involving teens. To contact the National Sexual Assault Hotline, call 1-800-656-4673.
LAS VEGAS (KLAS) — A group of eighth graders at a Las Vegas private school is accused of sexually assaulting another student in an alleged attack caught on video. It happened during an Alexander Dawson school field trip to Costa Rica last April, according to a Las Vegas Metro police arrest report obtained by the 8 News Now Investigators.
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The teen who police said recorded the video, Vaughn Griffith, is charged in adult court. He is 15. A grand jury indicted Griffith, a golf champion who was elected class president, for possession of a visual presentation depicting sexual conduct of a child, according to court records.
Police identified four teenagers and said Griffith appeared to record the video of the sexual assault.
Among other items, the sexual assault included the use of a flute, as the victim is heard crying and screaming in pain, according to the report.
In a six-second video, the victim is seen lying on a bed with his head lifted and his face showing tension/stress, as one boy said, “Hey, hold him over,” police wrote.
One boy reached over the victim’s body to turn him over, according to police.
“The camera angle then reverses back to show Vaughn Griffith and the boys start laughing,” the report states.
Then another video, described as more than two minutes long, “depicts the graphic and violent sexual assault,” police wrote.
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The victim yelled as he is punched, several boys are heard laughing throughout the entirety of the video, and the victim is heard trying to stop the battery that is occurring, police explained.
While one boy urges the victim to fight back, Griffith told him that if he does, they will cut off his penis, police wrote.
The victim was finally able to free himself.
The boys continued to laugh and say, “Ew,” police wrote.
“Some of the last words heard are one boy stating, ‘It’s clearly sexual,’ and another boy saying, ‘Assault,’ according to the report. “The camera angle turns to the person recording, displaying Vaughn Griffith’s face.”
During grand jury proceedings, a detective testified that the children were on a paid field trip to Costa Rica that Alexander Dawson Middle School students could take, and that they participated in several excursions from April 3 to April 11. In addition to the victim and Griffith, the detective identified three other boys.
The students would now be high school freshmen. The Clark County School District would not confirm or deny whether Griffith and one of the other suspects are enrolled in the district, and said the other two suspects are not enrolled.
The 8 News Now Investigators reached out to the Clark County District Attorney’s Office to determine whether the other boys face charges and have not received a response.
“We are concerned about what is clearly disparate treatment between how Vaughn is being treated compared to other, similarly situated, individuals,” Joshua Judd, Griffith’s attorney, told the 8 News Now Investigators in an email. “Nonetheless, we look forward to defending Vaughn in this case.”
Griffith was taken to the Clark County Detention Center on July 29, according to court records.
Clark County District Court Judge Linda Marquis issued an Oct. 7 order that Griffith’s case should be handled in the adult system. She pointed out that Griffith filmed the sexual assault, created the video, and preserved the video on Snapchat.
Griffith’s “possession of a video depicting a horrific group sexual assault of his classmate was heinous and egregious,” Marquis wrote.
Marquis decided that Griffith’s background does not outweigh the seriousness of the offense charged.
Griffith “certainly comes from a supportive family, attended a private school, maintained an excellent GPA, was elected class president, and is an award-winning, elite golfer,” Marquis stated.
Marquis wrote that a short period at a juvenile training center for reformatory educational discipline and other treatment is not appropriate in this case.
“The safety of the community requires transfer to the adult system,” she wrote.
Greg Harder, a licensed psychologist, evaluated Griffith after approximately a month in custody, according to his report. Harder recommended that Griffith’s case be handled in the juvenile court system, rehabilitation should be emphasized instead of punishment, and there was no evidence of Griffith being a sexual predator.
On May 17, Las Vegas Metro police began investigating the incident, which occurred on April 8 or 9 in Costa Rica. The principal of Alexander Dawson school told officers several students were brought in for questioning on May 16 after a report of a video of multiple students spanking each other on a field trip to Costa Rica in April 2025. The mother of the alleged victim then reached out to the principal that night to report that he had been sexually assaulted. This prompted the principal to contact the police.
The alleged victim did not initially report what happened because he did not want the other students to get in trouble, according to court records.
The alleged victim later reported that on April 5, a group of students entered his room, began to undress him, and threw his clothes on the balcony. He hid in the bathroom and later retrieved his clothes, according to the report.
Two days later, at Hotel Manuel Antonio, when a group of students were all hanging out in one of the hotel rooms, the alleged victim said “all youths pinned him down and pulled his pants and underwear” down and proceeded to sexually assault him.
The victim also said the students previously bullied him.
Attorneys David Chesnoff, Richard Schonfeld, and J. Randall Jones sent the 8 News Now Investigators a statement on Thursday on behalf of the victim:
“We represent the victim in this matter and appreciate the work that has been done by law enforcement, including the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department and the Clark County District Attorney’s office. We are confident that the judicial system will render justice for our client.”
The 8 News Now Investigators reached out to the Alexander Dawson School, and Denver-based attorney Ellen Herzog sent the following statement:
“The Alexander Dawson School at Rainbow Mountain was made aware of serious allegations involving male middle school students while in their hotel rooms during a class field trip. We take any such allegations incredibly seriously and promptly reported them to law enforcement once brought to our attention. Because the alleged misconduct occurred among middle school students, we cannot comment any further at this time.”
On the school’s website, it is described as, “a nurturing learning community for students in preschool through grade eight that challenges students to achieve excellence in mind, body and character.”
Tuition for kindergarten through grade eight is $32,500, according to the website.
Griffith appeared in court Thursday morning and pleaded not guilty. A hearing is scheduled for June 23.
A family member posted $20,000 bail for Griffith on Oct. 10, records show. Conditions include high-level electronic monitoring, no internet except for school purposes, staying away from minors other than a sibling, staying away from the victim, surrendering his passport, and staying out of trouble.
The video, considered evidence in the case, is sealed, per a court order.
To reach investigative reporter Vanessa Murphy, email vmurphy@8newsnow.com.
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