Man charged after allegedly raping teenage boy in Rigby church parking lot

Editor’s note: This article contains graphic details of a sexual nature. Discretion is advised.

RIGBY — A 39-year-old man has been arrested after a teenage boy reported receiving naked photos from him and then being raped in a church parking lot.

Ryan Cook was charged with felony lewd conduct with a child under 16 and felony enticing children over the internet.

According to court documents, a man filed a report with the Idaho Falls Police Department on March 30, saying that his 14-year-old stepson had been receiving naked photos and videos, and had been raped by a man identified as Cook.

IFPD then met with a Rigby City Police officer and transferred the case to them.

According to the stepfather, he had been going through his stepson’s phone when he found “several disturbing images” that were “pornographic in nature.”

The officer spoke with the boy, who said in December 2023, he received a friend request from someone he did not know and assumed it was someone from school, so he accepted the request.

The boy said they began talking to each other and asking “basic questions to include favorite color and generic get-to-know each other questions.”

Cook eventually began to send the boy naked photos and videos of himself, according to court documents.

The boy participated in a forensic interview on May 1 at the Domestic Violence and Sexual Assault Center, where he said Cook asked him for “nudity pictures” and that the two would talk about “inappropriate things.”

Police reports state that the two planned to meet in Rigby, and Cook picked up the boy in his car from an area near Broulim’s on Feb. 10.

The boy says when he was picked up by Cook, the man “wanted to have intercourse” and told him to “keep it a secret” because “people don’t understand this type of situation.”

According to the boy, Cook drove them to a church parking lot and raped him. The boy told police he asked Cook to stop multiple times, but he continued.

While investigating the Snapchat messages, police say they found an audio file from Cook to the boy saying, “I hope you enjoyed that as much as I did,” and then referencing the sexual encounter.

Officers also discovered that Cook was allegedly part of a group chat with several other men, where “767 assorted photographs and videos of erotic fondling/masturbation, erotic nudity, and erotica (were) located on (Cook’s) Snapchat messages.”

Officers later found an additional 195 photos and videos of the same type of content.

A warrant was issued for Cook’s arrest on July 8, and he appeared for an initial appearance in court on Friday. He is expected to appear for a preliminary hearing on July 25. If convicted, he could face life in prison.

Though Cook has been charged with these crimes, it does not necessarily mean he committed them. Everyone is presumed innocent until they are proven guilty.