Two men charged with kidnapping, sexually assaulting woman in Las Vegas

Two men have been charged with handcuffing a woman, then sexual assaulting her in a central Las Vegas motel room.

R L Fortson, 31, of Henderson, is charged with two counts of sexual assault, first-degree kidnapping, conspiracy to commit sex assault and coercion with force. Colin Michael Jackson, 47, is charged with first-degree kidnapping, conspiracy to commit kidnapping and sex assault, five counts of sex assault, coercion with force and open and gross lewdness.

Both were arrested in late March, and both remained housed at the Clark County Detention Center as of Friday, according to online records.

A Las Vegas police arrest report for Fortson indicates the two were arrested after a woman told police she was contacted by a man through an online escort service. She agreed to meet with the man on March 23 for a date at a motel room on East Fremont Street. About an hour later, a man arrived at her door, and she allowed the man into her room. Moments later, a second man showed up and entered the room as well.

The woman questioned what was happening and started screaming. Police said she was handcuffed, had duct tape placed over her mouth and raped by both men.

One man left the room, then the second left as a friend of the victim’s simultaneously arrived to check on her. The friend was told by the woman that she’d been raped, so the acquaintance chased after the men and caught up with one of them. The acquaintance, the assailant and others in the area were involved in a physical fight during which the acquaintance was able to grab the assailant’s car keys. On the key chain was a handcuff key that was then used to unlock the handcuffs on the woman’s wrists.

When police scoured the motel room, they found a roll of duct tape, a used piece of duct tape on the bed, and other evidence. The woman was taken to the hospital for treatment.

Police said they identified Fortson as a suspect via cell phone data, video surveillance and their ability to track a car that the first assailant arrived in at the motel back to a Henderson residence. When Fortson was interviewed he denied any wrongdoing, and at first said he was never at the motel. Police said he later acknowledged, however, that a surveillance picture of a man at the motel at the time of the incident was, in fact, him.

Fortson proceeded to tell police he had met a man online who was looking to meet an escort, and police said they were able to identify this individual as Jackson. Fortson said he agreed to help the man link up with an escort because the man was “new to it.”

Fortson told police he knew the woman at the motel from a prior contact, and that he’d messaged her through the website. He also gave the woman’s number to Jackson, police said. Fortson said he told the woman he was bringing an acquaintance to the motel room and introduced the two.

Fortson said he went into the motel room first, followed by the second man. Fortson said he went into the motel room for about 15 minutes and then left, saying he was not responsible for the second man’s actions. He also denied having anything to do with handcuffs or duct tape.

Police said they tracked down Jackson and interviewed him shortly after the incident. Jackson told police he happened to be driving in the area and needed to use a restroom so he parked at a nearby taco shop. Because the taco shop employees were unlikely to allow him to use the restroom, he started walking toward the motel when he heard screaming. Jackson said he started to run and was attacked from behind, then robbed.

“Colin was adamant that he never entered any hotel rooms and never met anyone at the hotel for sex,” police said. “Colin was confronted by the video surveillance showing him exit the hotel room and run away. Colin continued to deny that he ever entered a hotel room.”

Fortson and Jackson are scheduled to appear in Las Vegas Justice Court on Monday morning.

Contact Glenn Puit at gpuit@reviewjournal.com.