A 77-year-old Gillette man accused of soliciting a 15-year-old boy for sex could face between five and 12 years in prison.
Jack Ray Forgar is charged with one count of attempted sexual exploitation of a child. Besides the potential prison term, it’s also punishable by up to $10,000 in fines.
His case rose Thursday to the felony-level Campbell County District Court, after pending since August in the lower-level Gillette Circuit Court. The lower court had paused the case for months to have Forgar’s mental fitness to participate in court proceedings evaluated.
Forgar’s attorney Kurt Infanger declined Tuesday to comment on the case.
The Ask
Gillette Police Department (GPD) Officers responded at about 1:32 p.m. Aug. 14 to a local laundromat to meet with a woman who said her 15-year-old son was solicited while riding his bike in the area.
The youth stopped at a street corner to wait for a white 2011 Dodge pickup to drive through the intersection, the woman told police at the time, according to an evidentiary affidavit by GPD Officer Kara Webster.
But the truck just idled.
The driver, later identified as Forgar, rolled down his passenger window and asked the youth how old he was, says the affidavit.
“I’m 15,” the teen responded, reportedly.
The affidavit says Forgar then asked the boy if he wanted an oral sex act performed on him.
“No,” the teen answered, according to the document.
Forgar drove off, and the youth FaceTimed his mother to report what had happened. She told him to start biking back toward home, Webster wrote.
But the youth called his mother back soon and said the Dodge pickup was following him. The mother told her son to go into a business and wait inside until she arrived.
She then told the authorities she could meet police officers at the laundromat, says the affidavit.
The pair provided a license plate number for the truck, reportedly.
When officers responded to the address associated with the license plate number, the affidavit says they found the white Dodge pickup parked in front of the home with a plate on it matching the number the boy’s mother had related to police.
‘No, I’m Good’
Officers asked Forgar if he’d been in the area of 2nd Street and Kendrick Avenue, where the mother had said the incident happened.
He said he was — and he’d been out buying lottery tickets, Webster related from that interview.
The affidavit says police asked if Forgar had spoken with anyone on a bicycle in that area.
Forgar said he wasn’t sure and quickly added, without prompting, “I don’t date or go with guys.”
Officers pressed him on why he’d added that, and then he denied saying the statement at all, the document alleges.
Officers learned that Forgar had been questioned about “a very similar incident” dating back to Dec. 20, 2023, which the alleged victim captured on video.
Forgar had asked a 19-year-old male if he wanted Forgar to perform oral sex on him, the affidavit says.
“No, I’m good,” the male reportedly answered.
“I know you’ll like it,” Forgar answered, according to the document. Forgar is reported to have driven off in that same Dodge truck after the rejection.
Officers placed Forgar under investigative detention and took him the police department for another interview, in which he was given his Miranda warning, the document says.
Forgar denied soliciting the 15-year-old, Webster wrote, adding that he noted it’s not illegal for a 77-year-old man to talk to a 15-year-old.
Clair McFarland can be reached at clair@cowboystatedaily.com.
