Carson City man faces assault charges

A 28-year-old Carson City man charged with sexually assaulting a 12-year-old girl when he allegedly stuck his hand down the back of her pants will appear in Douglas County District Court for his arraignment Tuesday at 9 a.m.

Dennis Stuart Serba was placed on house arrest Wednesday by East Fork Township Judge Jim EnEarl. He is charged with a felony charge of lewdness with a child under the age of 14 and petty larceny.

Serba's charges stem from an alleged sexual assault on a 12-year-old girl at James Lee Park in Indian Hills on July 11.

The girl and two of her friends were sitting in a pavilion at the park at approximately 2:30 p.m., near a table that Serba was sitting at, according to the Douglas County Sheriff's report.

The victim said she went to a drinking fountain when Serba allegedly approached her and told her she was pretty. The victim said that Serba then stuck his hand down the back of her pants and touched the skin of her buttocks, according to the report.

The victim ran back to her friends and called 911.

Deputies found Serba on the other side of the park and took him into custody.

According to the report, one friend saw Serba follow the victim to the drinking fountain, but did not see the alleged incident.

The other friend said she saw Serba allegedly place his hand on the victim's lower back, but turned to talk to someone else and did not see anything else, according to the report.

She said that she suspected Serba had taken her cell phone, which she had left on a picnic table nearby.

Deputies allegedly found a cell phone belonging to the friend in Serba's pants pocket.

Serba will appear in EnEarl's court Aug. 20 on the petty larceny charge.