A 78-year-old Powell, Wyoming, man accused of spending roughly two years cruising around homeless shelters in Billings, Montana, looking for vulnerable women to pay for sex allegedly kept a blanket in his SUV for the encounters, a cooler stocked with vodka and a wad of $10 bills in the center console.
Roy Scott Reid pleaded not guilty to felony aggravated sex trafficking in Yellowstone County District Court on Monday after Montana investigators say he admitted to repeatedly seeking out women around homeless shelters and outreach organizations and offering them money, food and alcohol in exchange for sexual acts.
The Montana Department of Justice's Division of Criminal Investigation had been watching Reid's activities in Billings since at least June, when an agent saw him pick up a woman known to investigators as a trafficking victim outside St. Vincent de Paul, a nonprofit serving homeless people.
Investigators continued seeing Reid around St. Vincent de Paul and the Montana Rescue Mission, but at the time did not believe they had enough evidence to arrest him, said a statement from the Montana Department of Justice.
'White Equinox Guy'
On Aug. 12, DCI Agent Beth Richter was talking with staff at the Montana Rescue Mission when employees brought up someone they had come to know as the “white Equinox guy."
They told the agent they were suspicious of a man driving a vehicle with Wyoming license plates who appeared to be soliciting women staying at the mission.
Richter told them to call if he came back.
The next day, they did.
A mission staffer contacted DCI on Aug. 13 and reported that the man was again driving around the area “repeatedly soliciting transient women to have sex with him.”
Agents responded and spotted the Equinox.
The Wyoming license plate identified its registered owner as Reid, who was born in March 1948.
A Yellowstone County sheriff's deputy stopped Reid for failing to use a turn signal.
'Looking For Hookers'
Reid agreed to talk to Richter and initially said he had driven to Billings to buy groceries around 9 a.m. and spent the previous couple of hours simply "driving around."
Eventually, investigators say, he gave them another explanation.
He was driving around "looking for hookers," the affidavit says.
Reid told Richter that he frequented the Montana Rescue Mission, St. Vincent de Paul and South Park looking for women he could pay for sexual acts.
The affidavit says he told investigators he specifically sought women around the shelters because, "a lot of those women prostitute themselves."
Reid said he generally paid about $40 or provided food in exchange for sex or sexual touching. He also told the agent he provided alcohol to the women.
Perhaps most significantly, investigators say Reid told them he had been doing it for approximately two years and knew it was illegal.
Blanket, Vodka And $10 Bills
Reid consented to a search of his vehicle.
Inside the Equinox, Richter noticed a blanket and cooler.
Reid told her the blanket was used during the sexual encounters. The cooler, he said, contained plastic bottles of vodka for the women.
Investigators reported finding plastic alcohol bottles scattered throughout the Equinox and a wad of $10 bills stuffed into its center console.
There was $160 in cash, which investigators seized.
Reid was taken to the Yellowstone County Detention Facility and issued a notice to appear.
Woman In Pink Shoes
As investigators were returning to the vehicle, Reid allegedly spotted a woman nearby and identified her as someone he had paid for sex.
He recognized her, according to the affidavit, by the bright pink shoes she was wearing.
Investigators spoke with the woman, who confirmed she had encountered Reid before Aug. 13 and said he solicited her for sex.
She alleged that Reid had been "forceful about ensuring that he would get sex for picking girls up."
Other accounts gathered by investigators painted a similar picture.
After speaking with Reid, Richter and fellow DCI agent Mat Poe returned to the Montana Rescue Mission to collect more statements.
While there, the affidavit says they saw Reid drive past the building and brake hard when he came upon a woman walking alone.
He eventually drove away.
Then, a few moments later, investigators say he drove past the mission again.
Wads of Money
One Montana Rescue Mission staff member told investigators she had seen Reid aggressively cut off a woman with his vehicle and begin following her.
The staffer said she heard the woman shouting "no" at him.
She also recalled another occasion when Reid allegedly pulled up near her window at the mission and began counting wads of money.
Another woman told investigators Reid routinely offered her rides, which she refused. She also reported seeing Reid solicit the woman wearing the bright pink shoes the day before his arrest.
The charging affidavit concludes with a three-word sentence:
"The investigation continues."
Trial Set
Court records do not show a criminal history for Reid in Wyoming or show that an outstanding warrant led to the Aug. 13 encounter.
Instead, the affidavit says the Yellowstone County deputy stopped Reid for a traffic violation before Reid voluntarily agreed to speak with a DCI agent.
Montana's Department of Justice describes Reid as having been arrested and charged with one count of aggravated sex trafficking after the joint effort by DCI, the Yellowstone County Sheriff's Office and Billings Police Department.
A jury trial is scheduled for Dec. 28.
Kolby Fedore can be reached at kolby@cowboystatedaily.com.
