Man to be tried in molestation of granddaughter

A Carson City judge determined this week there is enough evidence to try a Reno grandfather for allegedly fondling his 7-year-old granddaughter during the 2009 Nevada Day Parade.

Following a preliminary hearing Thursday, Samuel Wagstaff, 74, was bound over on one count of lewdness with a child under 14. He was booked into the Washoe County Jail on the Carson City warrant on Jan. 19 and posted a $25,000 cashiers check as bail, according to Washoe County records.

According to the police report, a witness reported Wagstaff had his granddaughter on his lap during the 2009 Nevada Day Parade on Carson Street when she noticed his hand moving under a blanket covering the child. When the blanket fell to the side, the woman said, she allegedly could see that Wagstaff was rubbing the child's genitals through her clothes. The witness told the girl's mother who took the girl off Wagstaff's lap and has since stopped speaking with him, according to the report. After an interview with the 7-year-old girl and the child's mother, the case was submitted to the District Attorney's Office for a warrant.

Wagstaff will be arraigned in Carson City District Court on April 18.

The allegation came to light in May 2010 after the daughter of a family friend reported Wagstaff molested her during a visit to his Reno home in July 2009. The girl said Wagstaff's granddaughter told her he does that to her, too, according to the report.