Sexual assault charges against Colby Jordan Ryan, the surviving son of Lori Vallow, the Idaho mother accused of killing her two younger children, have been dropped, according to the Maricopa County Attorney’s Office.
Ryan was arrested earlier this month in Mesa, Arizona, after his estranged wife accused him of raping her at her home and was charged with two counts of sexual assault.
The attorney’s office dismissed the charges without prejudice, “which allows the office to file charges in the future and allows time for additional review of the case,” spokesperson Jennifer Liewer told NBC News.
Ryan was released from custody on Thursday and must abide by conditions for his release, including not initiating contact with the alleged victim or arresting officers and not possessing any drugs without a valid prescription.
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The victim, who was not identified, told officers that Ryan came to her home on Aug. 31 to watch television, according to a probable cause statement. The pair are separated and do not live together. The woman told police that the two engaged in consensual kissing but that she did not want to have sexual intercourse with Ryan. The woman told Ryan several times to stop but he inappropriately touched her and then raped her, the probable cause statement says.
Afterward, Ryan told his wife “he was sorry and started to cry,” the document states. The following day, the woman recorded a conversation with Ryan who allegedly admitted to inappropriately touching and raping her.
“During the recorded conversation the Defendant agreed that he ‘raped’ the Victim,” the probable cause states. Detectives also said Ryan “made verbal admissions” during a police interview, the document alleges.
Ryan was then charged with two counts of sexual assault and held at the Maricopa County jail.
Ryan is the son of Lori Vallow, who — along with her husband, Chad Daybell — was charged with murdering her son Joshua “JJ” Vallow, 7, and daughter, Tylee Ryan, 17.
Prosecutors have alleged that the couple planned to kill Tylee and steal the social security benefits she was receiving because her father died. They alleged the couple also killed Joshua.
Authorities in Idaho began looking into the couple in November 2019 after family members reported the two children missing. The couple lied to police about the children’s whereabouts, at one point telling investigators that Joshua was staying with a friend out of state.
The couple eventually stopped cooperating with police and left the state. They were found in January 2020 in Hawaii. Later that year, the children’s remains were discovered buried on Daybell’s property.
Court documents stated that Joshua was buried in a pet cemetery and that Tylee’s remains were dismembered and burned in a fire pit.
The couple is also embroiled in at least one other death. According to authorities, the two married weeks after Daybell’s wife, Tammy, died unexpectedly. The death was initially ruled as natural but investigators had the body exhumed so an autopsy could be conducted. The autopsy, completed last year, ruled the death as a homicide.
According to prosecutors, Vallow and Daybell had exchanged text messages saying they believed that Tammy was “in limbo” and “possessed by a spirit named Viola” before she was killed.
Vallow is also charged with conspiracy to commit murder in Arizona in connection with the death of her previous husband, Charles Vallow. He was shot and killed in 2019 by her brother, Alex Cox, who claimed it was in self-defense. Cox later died of what police said were natural causes.
Source: | This article originally belongs to Nbcnews.com
