He’s accused of abusing his two young children and forcing his wife into sex trafficking for at least two years.
But the man at the center of a disturbing case spanning from the Metro East to Las Vegas said Thursday authorities have the story all wrong.
“Obviously I am the victim here," said Jason Quate during an interview from the Clark County Detention Center. "I told the cops I’d be willing to take a lie detector test.”
Quate, 34, adamantly denies that he hurt his two daughters or forced his wife into prostitution.
In fact, he claims they aren’t even romantically involved.
“This is all her idea. She wanted to come out here and be a prostitute. I’ve never harmed her. I begged her to get a real job,” he said.
The Metro East native also says he had no role in the murder of their daughter, 6, in 2013.
The girl’s remains were found early Tuesday morning inside a detached garage at a vacant house in Centreville.
Quate’s wife told police Monday night about the remains, the alleged abuse and sex trafficking after seeking help at a women’s shelter in Las Vegas.
But he says she’s the one who wanted to get rid of the girl.
“She says she found a family who was looking for a kid and they wanted to adopt her. It was fine because we were struggling really badly at the time with money,” he explained.
But at the Las Vegas apartment complex that police raided earlier this week, detectives paint a different picture.
That’s where they said Quate abused the 7- and 10-year-old girls by restricting their social interaction and exposure to the outside world.
Quate said none of that was true.
“No! You can ask them that. I’m the only one who’s been loving to them," he said. "That’s why this is all shocking to me!”
One neighbor said he often heard arguing coming from the family’s apartment.
“My daughter caught an argument on their phone where he screamed at someone ‘I’ll cut your head off!,'” said Robert Patterson.
But Quate says the truth about everything that’s happened will be revealed when he has his day in court.
“I haven’t forced her. I haven’t beat her. I haven’t touched her. There’s not a scar on her. She’s a compulsive liar and a bad drunk,” he said.
Quate is due in court Friday morning for a hearing at 9:30 a.m. CST.
He now faces an additional child abuse/neglect charge in addition to sex trafficking and prostitution charges.
His wife is also now in police custody. She was arrested Thursday on a fugitive warrant out of St. Clair County for a 2013 forgery case in which prosecutors said she violated her probation.
Las Vegas Police said they’re currently working to extradite her.
No charges have been filed yet related to the death of the young girl.
