Photo by LCSO Kevin "Calvin" Leslie

Photo by LCSO Thereasa Longbine

The case against an alleged prostitution operation in North Platte went down the drain Thursday after a Lincoln County Judge ruled there wasn’t enough evidence to rule a crime had been committed.

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Pandering charges against Kevin D. “Calvin” Leslie, 36, were dismissed after a preliminary hearing in Lincoln County Court. Leslie was arrested Oct. 6 after getting a complaint that he was “pimping” out local women.

Pandering is the act of enticing another person to become a prostitute or receiving something of value to procure another person to commit an act of prostitution.

The case against Therease Longbine, 18, 721 West 10th Street, for prostitution will also not be prosecuted, according to Chief Deputy Lincoln County Attorney Todd Engleman.

Engleman said his office could not prosecute Longbine because they had no proof she received any money for her alleged sexual act.

After hearing all the evidence, Lincoln County Judge Kent Florom said the state failed to prove that a crime had been committed, dismissed the charges against Leslie and returned his bond.

The hearing

The state’s only witness Thursday was North Platte police Sgt. Steve Toelle.

Toelle testified that he interviewed a neighbor of Leslie’s, a railroader named Stuart Flessner. Toelle said Flessner lived in the end apartment of a group of five apartments at 413 East Fifth and that Leslie lived in a neighboring apartment.

Toelle testified that Flessner told him that “Calvin” Leslie had four females who frequented his apartment and that he became attracted to one of the girls named Therease.

Toelle said Flessner told him he met with Therease and Leslie and that Leslie had instructed Therease to expose her breasts to Flessner.

Leslie later charged Flessner $100 for “an hours worth of service,” Toelle said.

Flessner told Toelle that Therease became frightened during their first encounter and left, the investigator testified. Toelle said Flessner told him he complained to Leslie who promised to “make it right.”

Flessner said Leslie later delivered Therease to his room and that Leslie stayed in the room until he and Therease began to have an erotic encounter.

It was only then that Leslie left the room, the investigator said.

On cross-examination from Leslie’s attorney, Bob Lindemeier, Toelle admitted that Therease called Flessner’s accusations “inaccurate.”

Toelle said Therease told him Flessner was attracted to her but that she wasn’t interested in him. Toelle said Therease said she never performed sexual activities on him.

Toelle said he interviewed another woman, Sandra Kleckner, and she denied any knowledge of sexual favors or drug activity at Leslie’s apartment.

Toelle testified that no drug activity was found in the apartment but that Leslie had already moved out when police served the search warrant.

Kleckner took the stand and said Leslie was her best friend. She also testified that Flessner had a crush on Therease and showed up whenever she was around.

Lindemeier also introduced an affidavit from Therease.

The affidavit said Flessner gave her a dozen roses but that she refused to go out with him. It also said Leslie had to tell Flessner to leave Therease alone.

Therease did admit, in the affidavit, to calling Flessner one morning when she was out of gas and money. Therease said Flessner loaned her money but she never did anything with him.

Chief Deputy County Attorney Todd Engleman said that Flessner paid $100 and that Leslie brought Therease to him to “make it right” and that showed probable cause for pandering.

Lindemeier argued that everyone the police interviewed said nothing happened except Flessner and he was not there to testify.

Lindemeier called the allegations “made up.”

Engleman said that prosecutors didn’t always call victims in to testify during a preliminary hearing.