Vegas Strip illusionist faces additional child porn charges
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Magician Jan Rouven Fuechtener presented the Floating Virgin during a March 2007 dress rehearsal of a German TV show in Riesa, eastern Germany. Fuechtener pleaded not guilty on March 16 in U.S. District Court to one charge of receipt or distribution of child pornography, and was ordered jailed pending trial as a danger to the community and a flight risk.
LAS VEGAS » A German-born illusionist whose Las Vegas Strip show was canceled following his arrest in a child pornography investigation is facing additional charges in Nevada.
Jan Rouven Fuechtener is charged in a four-count federal indictment filed Wednesday with receipt, distribution, advertising and possession of child pornography. Convictions on all charges could get the 38-year-old performer decades in prison and up to $1 million in fines.
Fuechtener plans to plead not guilty at an arraignment April 6 and will fight the charges, defense attorney Jess Marchese said.
Fuechtener, who performed under the name Jan Rouven, pleaded not guilty to an initial charge of receipt or distribution of child pornography following his arrest March 16. He is in federal custody.
His “The New Illusions” show was shuttered following his arrest. It had won annual “Best of Las Vegas” honors from the Las Vegas Review-Journal newspaper after moving to the Tropicana hotel-casino in late 2014.
The indictment says Fuechtener also used the name Lars Schmidt.
The FBI said agents tracing activities of a computer user named “Lars45” found more than 3,500 videos and images on personal computers at Fuechtener’s home, including some depicting sex acts with children as young as 3 or 4.
