#Las Vegas school counselor allegedly told student she’d ‘get raped’

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Arbor View High School in Las Vegas, Nevada
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A Las Vegas high school counselor allegedly told a teenage student he believed she would get sexually assaulted at some point in her life, police said.

William S. Peterson, a 53-year-old counselor at Arbor View High School, was arrested on July 27 on two felony counts of lewdness with a child after the girl told police he touched her chest inappropriately, according to an arrest report obtained by the Las Vegas Review-Journal.

Peterson is accused of making sexual advances toward the girl upon learning she was spending time in online chatrooms. At one point, he told the girl “if she wanted to sex, why wouldn’t it be with me?,” the teen told police.

“He also informed the victim that she will most definitely get raped in her lifetime,” the arrest report states.

The girl’s mother told police Peterson worked at the school as a counselor. Payroll data cited by the newspaper shows he has worked there since at least 2009, while a cached webpage of Peterson’s bio — which was no longer available Thursday — indicated he joined the school’s counseling department in 2005.

In 1992, Peterson started teaching in Yuma, Arizona, before moving to Las Vegas in 2000, according to his former bio on the school’s website.

Peterson was arrested after the girl relayed the accusations to a church leader, who in turn told her mother, police said.

A message seeking comment from Clark County School District officials was not immediately returned early Thursday.

Peterson remains held on $3,000 bail at the Clark County Detention Center. He’s due in court for a preliminary hearing on Sept. 15.