LA man charged with sex trafficking underage girl on Strip

Scott Bradford Yates, 33, was arrested Oct. 26 by Las Vegas police as part of an undercover investigation on Sept. 18 on the Strip.

Police wrote in an arrest report for Yates that an undercover detective was on the casino floor at the Bellagio when he made contact with a female who appeared to be underage. The youth, whose age was blacked out in the report, agreed to have sex with the detective for a fee, prompting police to open an investigation “into the commercial sexual exploitation of children,” police said.

Detectives found text messages on the girl’s phone with a man later identified as Yates. In the graphic messages, police said Yates wrote to the youth saying “be careful if you feel they under covers” and “don’t talk about sex ever only spending time.”

The girl told police that she met Yates on Instagram and that he recruited her to work as a prostitute. She told police she initially told Yates she was 20 years old, and he never questioned that. She said she worked for Yates for three weeks and gave him $3,000 earned from acts of prostitution.

During questioning, police said Yates acknowledged knowing the girl but denied knowing she was a minor. He also denied trafficking the youth.

Las Vegas Justice Court records showed he is charged with first-degree kidnapping of a minor, sex trafficking a child under 18 and living from the earnings of a prostitute.

Clark County prosecutors declined to file a charge of child abuse or neglect against Yates. Justice Court records show he has multiple prior arrests in Las Vegas for charges including home invasion, coercion and forgery.

He remained in custody at the Clark County Detention Center Tuesday. A preliminary hearing in the case is scheduled for Monday.

Contact Glenn Puit by email at gpuit@reviewjournal.com. Follow @GlennatRJ on Twitter.