Sailor accused of lewdness with a child

A 26-year-old Navy man waived his preliminary hearing Thursday in Justice Court on a lewdness charge.

Michael Henderson is scheduled to appear in District Court on Tuesday. He faces one count of lewdness with a child under 14, a Category A felony.

Henderson’s attorney, Jacob Sommer, said he discussed the case with his client and the two agreed waiving the preliminary hearing was in Henderson’s best interest.

Henderson is accused of touching a 12-year-old girl on Aug. 17, 2012. If convicted, Henderson faces life in prison with the possibility of parole after 10 years and a $10,000 fine.

He works as an aviation administrativeman (AZ-3) at Naval Air Station Fallon and is assigned to Strike Fighter Wing Pacific Detachment Fallon, according to Zip Upham, NAS Fallon public affairs officer.

Upham did not know how long Henderson has been stationed in Fallon. Henderson is currently under house arrest.

In other court news —

• Gregory Parker, 60, of Fallon appeared in Justice Court on one count of assault with a deadly weapon.

According to court records, on March 24 Gregory followed a man at Safeway, pulled a switchblade knife and said, “I am going to stab you.”

The man alerted an employee, who called the authorities. Gregory also had a blood-alcohol level of .10.

In court, however, Justice of the Peace Mike Richards suggested a psychological evaluation. According to Richards, Gregory has been found incompetent at least twice in previous cases.

Richards said Gregory thought he had been in custody at the Churchill County Jail for two months and described himself as a doctor and surgeon.