A 37-year-old Oregon man accused of driving nearly 1,000 miles to Rock Springs to meet two 16-year-old girls is facing 51 felony charges and as much as 657 years in prison, court documents made public Monday reveal.
Brent Gailen Adams, born in 1989, had allegedly been talking with the girls on Snapchat for weeks before making the trip to Wyoming in May, and there was no misunderstanding about their ages.
One of the girls repeatedly reminded Adams both she and her friend were 16, court documents say.
At one point, she warned him about coming to Wyoming to meet “two 16 yr olds” and told him he could go to prison. She also urged him to wait until they were “18.”
Investigators say he drove to Rock Springs anyway.
The newly released documents lay out the allegations behind the case against Adams, who has been jailed since his Sept. 14 arrest on a $500,000 cash-only bond.
He made his initial court appearance the next day.
A preliminary hearing was scheduled for Sept. 24, but Adams waived it Sept. 23, sending the case to Sweetwater County District Court. He also demanded a speedy trial that day.
The case is now before District Court Judge Suzannah G. Robinson.
Adams is represented by Sweetwater County public defender Steven Anselmi-Stith.
‘Two 16 Yr Olds’
The investigation began May 12, when the mother of one of the girls found explicit videos on her 16-year-old daughter’s Snapchat account, the documents say.
Rock Springs police and the Wyoming Division of Criminal Investigation’s Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force began investigating.
The girl told investigators it had started about six weeks earlier, when she accepted a Snapchat request from an account using the name “vanishinpsycho.”
She said Adams initially told her he was 17 and lived in California.
Several days into their conversations, however, Adams allegedly acknowledged that wasn’t true. He was actually in his 30s and lived in Oregon.
Court documents show the conversation became sexual.
The girls’ warning that they’re 16 also appears in Snapchat messages investigators recovered.
The affidavit says Adams told them he "did not care" and was "willing to take the risk."
Oregon To Rock Springs
Then, investigators say, he started driving.
Adams allegedly left Oregon in early May while continuing to communicate with the girls through Snapchat. The girls could watch his progress through Snap Map, and investigators later used a trail of digital and business records to retrace the trip.
License plate readers picked up Adams’ 1993 Honda traveling east through Idaho and into Utah before continuing toward Wyoming, the documents say.
DoorDash records provided another piece of the timeline.
Investigators say Adams was making deliveries in Depoe Bay, Oregon, on May 7. By the evening of May 9, the same account was making deliveries in Rock Springs.
A Days Inn guest folio obtained by detectives also lists Adams as staying at the Rock Springs hotel for three nights, checking in May 9 and leaving May 12.
The girls allegedly met Adams outside TJ Maxx at White Mountain Mall on May 9.
From there, the documents say, they traveled to a remote dirt road off Belt Loop Road and later met at other locations around Rock Springs.
What investigators allege happened during Adams’ three-night stay — at the motel and elsewhere around Rock Springs — forms the basis for the 15 sexual abuse of a minor charges against him.
Videos And Snapchat
Another 36 felony charges stem from sexually explicit images and videos investigators say were made, received or exchanged.
Some were allegedly recorded in Adams’ motel room and another inside his vehicle.
Detectives extracted data from the girls’ phones and obtained additional records through a warrant served on Snapchat.
The amount of communication was substantial.
One message thread between Adams and one of the girls contained about 500 messages beginning April 25. Another account contained hundreds more messages exchanged with him in early May.
Investigators also recovered a group chat involving Adams and both girls.
The messages became another piece of the timeline: Conversations about Adams coming to Wyoming, arrangements to meet and later messages referring back to what investigators allege happened in Rock Springs.
Building The Case
Detectives then worked to see whether the girls’ accounts matched evidence they could independently verify.
Both girls separately picked Adams out of photographic lineups with "100% certainty," says the affidavit. They identified Adams as having a tattoo across his upper chest reading "Born Again," and another on his back.
One described Adams’ Rock Springs motel room and identified videos allegedly recorded there. Investigators also compared identifying features visible in recordings with the girls’ descriptions of Adams, including his tattoos.
The mother who first discovered the material later gave investigators clothing her daughter wore in one of the recordings.
The electronic trail continued after Adams left Wyoming.
License-plate readers recorded his vehicle traveling west through Utah on May 12 and north through Idaho later that day. By May 14, investigators say, it was back in Oregon.
Taken together, detectives say the hotel folio, DoorDash activity, license-plate readers, Snapchat records and cellphone evidence corroborated significant portions of the girls’ accounts.
Up To 657 Years
The resulting case is enormous.
Thirty-six felonies are filed under Wyoming’s child sexual-exploitation statute and include allegations of making child pornography, explicit sexual conduct involving a child, and receiving or delivering child pornography. Each carries up to 12 years in prison.
The other 15 charges allege third-degree sexual abuse of a minor. Each carries a maximum of 15 years.
If Adams were convicted of every charge, received the maximum on each and a judge ordered every sentence to run consecutively, the math comes to 657 years behind bars.
His preliminary hearing was scheduled for Sept. 24, but Adams waived it the previous day, allowing prosecutors to take the case directly to district court. He also filed a demand for a speedy trial.
The case is now pending before Robinson in Sweetwater County District Court.
Kolby Fedore can be reached at kolby@cowboystatedaily.com.
