Accused of offering his genitalia for a young boy to touch in the Gillette, Wyoming, Walmart store, a 54-year-old man could face between five and 12 years in prison.
James Todd, of Gillette, was charged with attempted child sexual exploitation in late May, but his case rose to the felony-level Campbell County District Court last week. The charge carries a penalty of between 5-12 years in prison and up to $10,000 in fines.
Todd is out of jail on a $25,000 bond a surety company posted on his behalf, his court file indicates.
An evidentiary affidavit filed in the case stems from a mother’s Feb. 28 report that a man had approached her son in the men’s bathroom at the Gillette Walmart store.
Born in 2018, the boy was likely 5 years old at that time. He may have been 6 if his birthday fell in January or February, which the court file doesn’t tell.
The Man In The Stall
His mother brought him to the store to buy “stuff,” the boy later told a child forensic interviewer in Rapid City, South Dakota.
He needed to use the bathroom and went into the one in the back of the store. While he was washing his hands, a man walked out of a stall, pulled his pants down to expose his genitalia and asked if the boy wanted to “touch his wiener,” the affidavit relates from the boy’s forensic interview.
The boy said no, washed his hands and left the bathroom to tell his mom, says the document.
The affidavit says the boy noted that a male Walmart employee was also in the bathroom at the time. When police identified and contacted the Walmart worker, he said he wasn’t paying close attention, but did notice that both the man and the boy were at the urinals at the same time.
Story Changes
The man, later identified as Todd, gave Gillette police a different account.
He said he’d just gotten off work and needed to buy a space heater at Walmart since his home heater had quit working, but he hadn’t had the opportunity to urinate since leaving work and struggles with urgency due to a bowel surgery from three years prior, the document says.
He had to go “immediately” once in the bathroom, and he didn’t know anyone was in there, Todd reportedly told police.
Then he saw a young child standing at one of the urinals, and Todd took his penis out of his pants. Still exposed, he started walking toward a stall to urinate, but noticed the stalls were too dirty to use, the affidavit relates from Todd’s interview.
So, still exposed and holding his penis, he turned back to the urinals and said, “How’s it going?” to the child, and urinated in a urinal, Todd reportedly told police.
Then he zipped up his pants and walked out of the restroom, he added.
The child’s mother confronted him a short while later, but Todd denied making any inappropriate offers to the child.
The investigator asked Todd why he’d be walking around the bathroom exposed. Todd said he didn’t want to urinate in his pants, reportedly.
The investigator then asked why Todd had tried to use a stall anyway, and Todd allegedly answered, “because of things like this,” meaning that children won’t make up stories about him being inappropriate toward them.
The investigator asked if a child had ever made up such a story about him, and Todd said no, but it had happened to his friends, and he himself had made up such a story as a child, the affidavit says.
Todd believed the child saw his genitalia exposed, but reportedly said the child’s claim of an inappropriate offer was just an attempt to get attention.
Surveillance Video
Walmart gave police surveillance video capturing the area outside the bathroom, the document says.
The video shows the boy walking into the bathroom while his mother waits beyond the door. A few minutes later the Walmart employee enters, then the employee leaves the bathroom. After that, the boy leaves the bathroom with his head down and appears as if trying to tell his mother something, the affidavit says.
Todd then leaves the bathroom with his head down and walks quickly away from both mother and son, reportedly.
Todd never bought a space heater or ventured toward that part of the store, the document relates from the surveillance video.
Todd could not be reached Thursday via his court-listed phone number.
His attorney did not immediately respond to a voicemail and email request for comment.
One of Todd’s bond conditions, among others, bars him from being alone with children without a parent or guardian present.
Clair McFarland can be reached at clair@cowboystatedaily.com.
