Push Forward founder charged with sexual assault

A Las Vegas community organizer who worked with at-risk youth has been arrested and charged with sex-related offenses.

Hector D. Esparza, 40, was charged with three counts of sexual assault and eight counts of open or gross lewdness, according to court records. A criminal complaint was filed Friday against Esparza.

According to an arrest report, Metro Police were contacted on March 19 with allegations that Esparza had sexually assaulted a juvenile family member, and that incidents occurred over approximately four to five years. Police arrested Esparza on April 6 and booked him into the Clark County Detention Center, where he is being held without bail. He appeared in court for an arraignment hearing on Monday morning, where he pled not guilty. A preliminary hearing is scheduled for April 25. His lawyer declined to comment on the charges.

Esparza, known in the community as Hektor Esparza, was the founding director of the Winchester Cultural Center's mentoring/skateboarding youth program, which evolved into his own skate-focused nonprofit Push Forward. He was also a culture writer for local publications and served in 2014 and 2015 as the Gay and Lesbian Community Center of Southern Nevada's youth resource specialist, conducting outreach and implementing programming and events for LGBT youth.

When reached for comment, Winchester Cultural Center Program Supervisor Patrick Gaffey said, “The county will not let its employees talk about former employees except to say that, yes, he did work here.”

Center CEO Michael Dimengo responded: “All I can say is, I’m surprised.”

While Push Forward's Facebook page remains live, the PushForwardLV Instagram account was deleted after a March 20 post stating that the organization had come to an abrupt halt: “Due to tragic events of unimaginable magnitude, Push Forward and all its events and programs are suspended indefinitely. It’s been an amazing 10 years serving the skate community. Invest in yourselves while you are young. Fill your hearts with goodness, love, creativity and compassion. Thank you skaters. Farewell.”

Jackie Valley and Ricardo Torres contributed to this developing story.

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