Jury finds porn actor guilty in sorority house rape
Man could face life sentence in attack on WSU student
COLFAX – A Whitman County jury returned guilty verdicts on the four most serious charges against porn actor Christopher Jack Reid late Friday, including second-degree rape.
Reid was immediately taken into custody by sheriff’s deputies after the verdicts were read shortly before 9 p.m. after three hours of deliberations.
Reid had been free on $200,000 bail pending his trial that stemmed from the Sept. 13, 2007, rape of a Washington State University student at the Kappa Alpha Theta sorority just north of the school’s Pullman campus.
Reid’s mother wept before he was led out of Superior Court at the end of the week-long trial. His father embraced him and said, “We love you, son.”
Reid, 26, was convicted of the rape charge, plus one count of first-degree burglary and two counts of residential burglary, all felonies. He was acquitted of one count of attempted residential burglary.
He faces a potential life sentence in prison. Judge David Frazier set a tentative sentencing date of Dec. 5.
Former WSU student Kyle Schott pleaded guilty earlier this year to reduced charges of third-degree rape and second-degree burglary in exchange for his testimony against Reid. According to county Prosecuting Attorney Denis Tracy, Reid and Schott got drunk together and broke into several sororities in search of women to costar in Reid’s sex videos.
Schott finished testifying Friday morning after he began Thursday. Defense attorney Chris Bugbee used most of his questions in an attempt to poke holes in Schott’s story.
Schott agreed with Bugbee he wasn’t initially truthful with police after his arrest two days after the rape, but said he eventually realized he had to “man up” and admit his involvement.
“The lies slowly melted away, and the truth came out,” Schott said.
But Bugbee contended Schott was using the adult film actor he met at a bar as a scapegoat to protect a friend who actually committed the rape with him.
“Kyle Schott’s story changes so many times, you just can’t keep up with it,” Bugbee told the jury of eight women and four men. “He admitted he lied time and time again, and when he said he’s done lying, you can point to another lie somewhere further down the line. He is a liar and a rapist.”