Former Reno hotel employee pleads not guilty in child luring case 1%
By Jaedyn Young1%
7/30/2026, 3:30:31 PM
BS Summary: This article contains 1 faulty reasoning type, including Availability Heuristic, with Availability Heuristic as the most egregious example at 6.6% saturation with 22 hits. Analysis detected 22 faulty-reasoning hits from 335 analyzed words, generating a BS Score of 3.3% and a BS Rank of 1% (22,264 of 22,405 articles). This article is better (less manipulative) than 99.40% of the article peer group.
A former J Resort security guard pleaded not guilty Wednesday to charges alleging he attempted to lure someone he believed was underage to engage in sexual conduct.
James Ziebell, 38, was arrested May 30 on charges of attempted child abuse, luring a child through the use of computer technology to engage in sexual conduct, and attempted statutory sexual seduction by a person over 21.
According to court records, Judge Egan Walker set his jury trial date for May 3, 2027.
A video posted on YouTube by creator "Skeeter Jean" showed a civilian investigation group confronting the security supervisor at the J Resort.
According to the video, the guard texted with their decoy, posing as an underage girl, on Facebook for several months.
Reno police conducted their own investigation before arresting Ziebell.
"During the investigation, officers developed probable cause to believe the suspect knowingly communicated with an individual he believed to be a 14-year-old juvenile for the purpose of engaging in unlawful sexual conduct," Reno police said in a news release.
In a statement sent to the RGJ, the J Resort said Ziebell is no longer employed there.
"Prior to being hired, the individual went through a preliminary employment check and a Nevada Gaming Control Board background check," the J Resort said.
"No issues were identified that disqualified them from employment.
Additionally, their role involved annual anti-human trafficking training."
We will continue to assist law enforcement as appropriate.
While this is an active legal matter, we are unable to comment further on the investigation or pending proceedings."
According to court records, Ziebell's bail was set at $40,000 with conditions including no unsupervised contact with children, a GPS monitor and supervision with pretrial services.
He posted bail on June 11.
Jaedyn Young covers public safety and breaking news for the Reno Gazette-Journal.
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