Fernley man convicted of child molestation

Robert Perea, The Fernley Reporter

A Fernley man was found guilty and faces life in prison after being convicted this week of 10 counts involving child molestation.

Ronald T.J. Engle, 57, of Fernley, was found guilty May 23 in Third Judicial District Court in Yerington of four counts of sexual assault on a child under the age of 14 years, two counts of attempted sexual assault on a child under the age of 14 years, two counts of lewdness with a minor age of the 14 years, one count of unlawful use of a minor in production of pornography or subject of sexual portrayal in performance and one count of possession of visual presentation depicting sexual conduct of person under 16 years of age, following an six-day jury trial.

The jury also found Engle not guilty of attempted murder.

Engle was convicted for molesting a child in Fernley, Nevada over the course of two years and having a video on his cellular phone depicting child pornography.

Engle was arrested after an investigation led by the Lyon County Sheriff’s Office Detective Division along with the Fernley Patrol Division.

The Third Judicial District Court will sentence Engle on July 23, 2018. He faces life in prison with parole eligibility after 35 years on each of the four sexual assault charges; two to twenty years in prison on each of the two attempted sexual assault charges; life in prison with parole eligibility after 10 years on each of the two lewdness with a child under 14 charges; life in prison with parole after 10 years on the unlawful use of a minor in production of pornography charge, and one to six years in prison on the possession of visual presentation depicting sexual conduct of child under 16 charge.