A Las Vegas official was arrested on four criminal charges, including child abuse and assault, and appeared to be smiling in his mugshot. The Metropolitan Police Department of Las Vegas announced the arrest of one of their officers through their official social media account. The officer, identified as Joseph Ortega, was taken into custody at the Clark County Detention Center. He faces two charges of child abuse or neglect and two charges of assault with a deadly weapon in a domestic violence case.
Ortega has been a member of the police department since 2017 and was assigned to the Northwest Area Command as part of the Community Policing Division. The police department has issued a statement confirming that Ortega will be suspended without pay, but did not specify the duration of the administrative sanction. He will remain in custody until his next court appearance on December 21, where his sentence or trial will be determined.
The department did not disclose any information regarding the victim’s identity or age. It is expected that as the investigations progress, more details will be released about the judicial process that has affected the institution.
This incident adds to a string of recent arrests of active-duty officers in Las Vegas over the past 60 days, with six officers facing charges related to sexual abuse. The department has yet to provide further details on the cases.
