District Attorney’s Office secures conviction In child abuse and kidnapping case

Robert William Downs convicted after four-day jury trial.

Reno, Nevada. June 4, 2015. The Washoe County District Attorney’s Office convicted Robert William Downs, 38 (DOB 2/22/1977), of Reno on multiple counts of Child Abuse and one count of First Degree Kidnapping after a four day jury trial led by Deputy District Attorneys Nicole Hicks and Kelly Kossow.  The accusations against Downs stemmed from multiple acts of abuse against a 7 year old boy from Reno between March and May of 2013.  

The case began on May 16, 2013 when the Reno Police Department responded to 1661 E. 6^th Street #230 (The MacGregor Inn) on a call to check the welfare of a child.  The child was located with obvious signs of abuse including bruises from head to toe and eye injuries consistent with being strangled.  Downs, the boy, and his mother all lived together at that location.  The subsequent investigation revealed that the child had been abused and neglected over the course of months by Downs.  This abuse included punching and choking the child to unconsciousness as well as tying his hands and feet together, securing a rag in his mouth, and submerging him in water to near drowning. 

The child’s mother, Allison Alamo, 31, (DOB 11/17/1982) was also prosecuted for having failed to protect the child.  She pled guilty and was sentenced to 60 to 150 months in prison.  Her prison sentence was suspended and she was granted probation by the Court. 

Key points in the trial included testimony from neighbors who recalled hearing what sounded like animal abuse coming from the apartment.  The victim in the case has since been reunited with his father in the United Kingdom and was allowed to testify Via Skype.  Downs faces up to 20 years in prison for each of the 3 abuse charges and a potential life sentence for the Kidnapping charge.      

Prosecutors Kossow and Hicks worked closely with Reno Police Detectives, Washoe County Social Services and Dr. Catherine Wagoner, a local expert in diagnosing and treating child abuse victims, throughout the prosecution of this case.  

District Attorney Chris Hicks commended the jury “for holding Downs accountable for these horrific and brutal acts.”

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