Vegas Strip illusionist jailed on federal child porn charge

A Las Vegas Strip illusionist and magician originally from Germany was in federal custody Thursday following his arrest on a child pornography charge.

Jan Rouven Fuechtener, 38, pleaded not guilty Wednesday in U.S. District Court to a charge of receipt or distribution of child pornography. A federal magistrate judge ordered him jailed pending trial as a danger to the community and a flight risk.

Defense attorney Jess Marchese said Thursday that he will appeal to a federal district judge for Fuechtener’s release.

Performing under the name Jan Rouven, Fuechtener has headlined the “The New Illusions” show at the Tropicana hotel-casino since September 2014.

The show was canceled Wednesday and would remain dark for at least the rest of the week, the Las Vegas Review-Journal reported (http://bit.ly/1nQ2qRo ). A show official didn’t immediately respond Thursday to messages from The Associated Press.

An undercover FBI officer in Buffalo, New York, began last August to trace the activities of a computer user named “Lars45” on a peer-to-peer file sharing program, according to a criminal complaint against Fuechtener.

Agents served a warrant in January at Fuechtener’s house in Las Vegas, where investigators found more than 3,500 videos and images on personal computers depicting sex acts with children as young as 3 or 4 years old, the document says.

Fuechtener has performed as a magician in Las Vegas for several years, and his show has won annual Best of Las Vegas honors from the Review-Journal.

This story was originally published March 17, 2016 at 4:42 PM with the headline "Vegas Strip illusionist jailed on federal child porn charge."