Southern Utah man arrested on charges related to soliciting the rape of a child

Stock image | St. George News

ALERT: This report includes details that may not be appropriate for all readers. Discretion is advised.

ST. GEORGE — A Southern Utah man was arrested Tuesday after allegedly arranging to have sex with a “mother and her 12-year-old daughter” on an online website known for advertising sex.

Alexander Jay Ryan, of Enoch, Utah, booking photo posted Feb. 27, 2018 | Photo courtesy of Iron County Sheriff’s Office, St. George News

Alexander Jay Ryan, 20, of Enoch, was charged with first-degree felony criminal solicitation and second-degree felony enticing a minor over the internet, according to information filed in 5th District Court by the Iron County Attorney’s Office.

On Jan. 26, Ryan responded to a decoy ad placed on Craigslist titled, “Seeking someone to participate in an incest lifestyle,” according to a probable cause statement filed by the Iron County Sheriff’s Office in support of the arrest.

Ryan engaged in online correspondence with a confidential informant, who wrote in an email sent to Ryan, “Im looking for someone to have sex with me and my 12yo daughter,” the report states, to which Ryan allegedly replied: “I can do that if you want me to.”

Ryan eventually requested pictures and asked specific illicit questions regarding the potential sexual encounter, the arresting officer wrote in the sworn statement. He then made arrangements to meet at a house in Paragonah, but did not keep the appointment.

Ryan later told the informant he had been called to work, and arranged to meet the following day, the report states. Again, he did not show up.

During the investigation, officials traced the phone number used to Ryan, and subsequently interviewed him about the sexual solicitation correspondence, according to the statement.

Ryan allegedly admitted he did communicate with the informant and initially said he “was just playing along to get with the mom,” the officer wrote. Ryan later reportedly told officials he had intended to have sex with the woman and 12-year-old girl but saw a news report about Craigslist stings and “had a sudden change of heart.”

Ryan was arrested and booked into the Iron County Jail.

According to court documents, Ryan has no prior criminal history in Utah.

Persons arrested or charged are presumed innocent until found guilty in a court of law or as otherwise decided by a trier-of-fact.

Email: [email protected]

Twitter: @STGnews

Copyright St. George News, SaintGeorgeUtah.com LLC, 2018, all rights reserved.

Free News Delivery by Email

Would you like to have the day's news stories delivered right to your inbox every evening? Enter your email below to start!

6 Comments

  • comments March 1, 2018 at 6:32 pm

    I’ll tell you what, I’m surprised these coppers are publishing all the details of these ‘stings’. I guess they only do these in our area about once a year or so, but if they would keep the info of how they’re doing it away from the media they could prob catch dozens more men (every month). This little pervert here would’ve got much lighter charges if he hadn’t confessed to wanting to rape a 12yr old, since he didn’t actually show up for these ‘meetings’. That’s what you get for being a degenerate idiot. His charges will still be far less serious than those other men who drove to location and exchanged money. At his age he can still straighten up his life. Those other men were old enough to know better.

    • Striker4 March 1, 2018 at 10:22 pm

      LOL ! oh my now the Prophet Bob is giving law enforcement advice on how to engage in better police work. ha ha ! this is to much maybe if the Prophet is such an expert on crime fighting he should run for Sheriff I’m sure his followers would vote for him.

  • PlanetU March 1, 2018 at 8:18 pm

    Shouldn’t he be in church? Looking for a thrill caught up with him.

  • Striker4 March 1, 2018 at 10:24 pm

    He’s off the streets and locked up where he belongs

  • Honor1st March 2, 2018 at 2:10 pm

    Sorry but this kind of deed suggests the soul has Departed the perps and they are NOT salvageable .
    Prison is just a waster of taxpayer money as they will do the same if ever bailed out or paroled later .
    They both need to be euthanized ( kindly . . . as we would any rabid animal . . . )

Leave a Reply

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.