Man signs plea agreement after being accused of raping teenage boy in church parking lot

RIGBY — A 39-year-old man is expected to plead guilty after being accused of raping a teenage boy in a church parking lot.

Ryan Cook was initially charged on July 3 with felony lewd conduct with a child under 16 and felony enticing children over the internet.

On Sept. 3, he was given an additional charge for felony transferring of body fluids containing HIV.

According to court filings, Cook signed a plea agreement on Feb. 4, where he agreed to plead guilty to felony lewd conduct with a minor in exchange for the prosecution dropping the remaining charges.

Both parties agreed that the prosecution would recommend a minimum of five years and a maximum of 20 years in prison at sentencing.

The plea agreement is not binding on the court, meaning the judge does not have to agree to either party’s recommendations for sentencing.

Cook is expected to appear in court for a change-of-plea hearing on Monday in front of District Judge Stevan Thompson.

Background

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 Cook.

IFPD met with a Rigby City Police officer and transferred the case to that department.

According to the stepfather, he had been going through the boy’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 near Broulim’s on Feb. 10, 2024.

The boy says Cook “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 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,” referencing the sexual encounter.

Officers 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.