Man knowingly gave HIV to 14-year-old boy during rape, court documents allege
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RIGBY — A 39-year-old man, already charged with multiple felonies, was given an additional charge for potentially giving HIV to a minor he reportedly raped.
Ryan Cook was initially charged with felony lewd conduct with a child under 16 and felony enticing children over the internet. On Sept. 3, he was also charged with felony transferring of body fluids containing HIV.
The new charge could carry a sentence of up to 15 additional years in prison, although the lewd conduct charge carries a sentence of up to life in prison.
RELATED | Man charged after allegedly raping teenage boy in Rigby church parking lot
Background
According to court documents, a man filed a report with the Idaho Falls Police Department on March 30, saying 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 a stranger 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.” Cook then sent the boy naked photos and videos of himself, according to court documents.
During a forensic interview on May 1 at the Domestic Violence and Sexual Assault Center, the victim said Cook asked him for “nudity pictures” and that they would talk about “inappropriate things.”
Police reports state 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 Cook picked him up, 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 the assault.
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.
Cook was booked into the Jefferson County Jail on July 3 and posted a $75,000 bond on July 15. A no-contact order was issued for the victim.
Cook is expected to appear for a preliminary hearing on the new charge on Sept. 26.
Though Cook has been charged with these crimes, this does not necessarily mean he committed them. Everyone is presumed innocent until proven guilty.