A man who calls himself ‘pro-life Spiderman’ has been handed a jail term after climbing the Las Vegas Sphere.
Court records show Maison Des Champs was sentenced to 45 days in prison for the stunt, along with a 364-day suspended sentence.
Officials said the climb caused $100,000 worth of damage to the venue, and Des Champs has been ordered to pay $77,270.32 to the Sphere Entertainment Complex, which operates the site.
The 26-year-old Las Vegas resident will also serve a year of probation once released. He pleaded guilty to a gross misdemeanor count of acting with wilful or wanton disregard for the safety of people or property, according to the New York Post.
Des Champs, an anti-abortion activist, says the climb was aimed at raising money for the charity Let Them Live, and he reportedly brought in $48,000.
On its website, Let Them Live says that it if a woman wants an abortion it ‘offers them financial support so that they can choose life instead’.
The website also says that ‘each mom signs an agreement stating that she will not seek an abortion after accepting our assistance.’
Des Champs carried out the climb as part of a fundraising effort after the organization said it would help a homeless woman so she would cancel her ‘abortion appointment’.
He broadcast the ascent live, during which he stepped across and damaged some of the display panels that make up the Sphere. During the stream, he urged viewers to donate, telling them ‘she is homeless and pregnant and needs help’.
The fundraiser ultimately hit $48,000, surpassing a stated target of $25,000 intended to provide financial support to the woman. She had reportedly set an appointment to end her pregnancy three days after the climb took place.
Des Champs said his aim was to provide ‘the tangible support she desperately needs and to rally a community around her that believes in the power of hope and action’.
Let Them Live has faced criticism in the past, including from a woman who said she agreed not to terminate her pregnancy but did not receive the promised financial help, according to Business Insider.
In response, the organization’s CEO Nathan Berning said: “We offered too much support to too many people and we didn’t have the ability to financially support all of those moms at that time.”
Business Insider also reported that another woman, after undergoing the first stage of an abortion procedure known as a dilation, said she was in her hotel when she began receiving a flood of messages from people claiming to be with Let Them Live. She said the messages urged her not to proceed, including one from someone who said he was a priest and sent her images of bloodied foetuses.
Berning acknowledged that ‘multiple staff members’ contacted the woman, who ultimately chose not to go through with an abortion.
He said: “If we feel like there’s still a chance she wants our help, then we have to use every opportunity to show her we are there to help. We did save her baby from abortion.”