Man Cops To Sex Assault At Vegas Pool Party

APRIL 30--A man has admitted to sexually assaulting a male partygoer who passed out during a booze-soaked pool bash at the Las Vegas hotel hosting this weekend’s Floyd Mayweather-Manny Pacquiao boxing match, court records show.

Gustavo Banegas, 22, pleaded guilty earlier this month to a pair of felony charges stemming from the attack last August in a bathroom at the MGM Grand hotel. Both Banegas and the victim, a Utah man vacationing with his wife, were attending the hotel’s popular “Wet Republic” pool party.

Banegas, pictured at right, is scheduled to be sentenced in August following his April 14 plea to attempted sexual assault and coercion charges. Banegas, a Florida resident, remains free on $100,000 bond.

According to a Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department report, Banegas--who was celebrating his birthday with friends and family--assaulted the victim in a bathroom adjacent to the entrance of “Wet Republic,” a sprawling 54,500-square-foot venue comprised of several pools, bars, bungalows, and cabanas. On the day of the attack, the Dutch DJ Tiesto was performing for the large, adults-only crowd.

Police were summoned to the MGM Grand after a hotel security guard walked into the bathroom and found “a Hispanic Male Adult who appeared to be attempting to have anal sex with an unresponsive White Male Adult.”

During subsequent police questioning, Banegas said that he found the passed-out victim “sitting on the toilet with his shorts pulled down to his ankles.” After lifting the man off the toilet and onto the floor, Banegas said, he “saw the unconscious male’s penis and was immediately turned on so he began to masturbate while standing next to the sink.”

Banegas, who told cops he was gay, admitted that he was “so turned on sexually he stepped toward the unconscious male and knelt down next to him” and performed oral sex for “approximately 10 seconds.” Admitting that he knew his actions were wrong, Banegas told cops that he was “turned on” by the “attractive” victim and “couldn’t help himself.”

Asked by a detective what he would have done if security had not entered the bathroom (which Banegas thought he had locked), Banegas replied that he “would have sucked on the victim’s penis for a couple minutes more.”

The security guard who interrupted the assault told police that he found Banegas--whose swimsuit was at his ankles--with “a full erection.” The guard added that Banegas was “appearing to begin having anal sex” with the incapacitated victim.

Like Banegas, the victim had been drinking heavily in the hours before the assault. The man told police that he was sitting on the toilet when an unknown male entered the bathroom and “began making sexual advances towards him.” When the man began stroking his penis, the victim said, he pushed the attacker’s hand away. The victim added that he later passed out and was “unable to recall any other incidents that took place inside the restroom.”

The victim was “mentally or physically incapable of resisting or understanding the nature of Defendant’s conduct,” according to a criminal complaint.

In conjunction with the Mayweather-Pacquiao fight Saturday night, thousands of revelers are expected to throng this weekend’s “Wet Republic” festivities, which include a set Saturday afternoon by DJ Calvin Harris. (5 pages)