The case against a former reserve Byrnes Mill Police officer accused of molesting a teenager over several years was bound over for circuit court trial after a March 29 preliminary hearing before Jefferson County Div. 10 Associate Circuit Judge Jeffrey Coleman.
Ryan Shomaker, 45, of Washington, Mo., is facing a charge of first-degree statutory sodomy, an unclassified felony punishable by a minimum of three years in prison.
The case has been assigned to Div. 5 Circuit Judge Victor Melenbrink, with a trial date to be determined.
The molestation allegedly began February 2014, when the boy was 13, and continued until sometime in 2018.
The alleged victim, now 19, and Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office Deputy Colin Rumpsa testified on behalf of the prosecution. The defense did not present any witnesses. Shomaker attended the hearing, but did not testify.
Coleman made his decision after hearing arguments from Jefferson County assistant prosecuting attorney Shannon O’Neal and defense attorney Mark Hammer.
Hammer argued that the alleged victim’s testimony showed inconsistencies.
“You recognize those statements as being inconsistent?” Hammer asked Rumpsa, who responded, “Yes.”
O’Neal said testimony from minors often produces inconsistencies in dates and other details and argued that since the alleged “sexual contact” lasted four years, any inconsistencies in the victim’s testimony regarding exact dates were inconsequential.
The alleged victim testified he was 13 when he met Shomaker through the Grindr dating app, which claims to be the world’s largest social networking app for gay, bisexual, transgender and queer people. The victim said he claimed to be 18 when he signed up for Grindr, the minimum age to participate in the app.
O’Neal asked the victim how Shomaker reacted when the victim told him he was 14.
“He was like, ‘No way,’” the victim responded.
Coleman immediately made his ruling at the end of the 50-minute preliminary hearing.
Court records show that Shomaker is out of jail on a $50,000 surety bond. Initially a $50,000 cash-only bond was set, but Coleman altered the bond conditions, according to court records.
According to the probable-cause statement in the case, the victim told a Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office deputy (Rumpsa) on Nov. 2, 2018, that Shomaker had sexual contact with him multiple times during his juvenile years, “at least two of which were within the Jefferson County jurisdiction.”
The victim said he became involved in a “lengthy relationship” with Shomaker that included periods where he would stay at Shomaker’s home for several days at a time, the report said.
The victim told authorities he tried to end contact with Shomaker several times, but Shomaker would threaten to seek charges against the victim’s family, according to the report.
Shomaker allegedly told investigators he had a relationship with the victim for at least two years, which would have made the boy a maximum of 16 at the time of their encounters, but he would not comment about the alleged sexual nature of the relationship, saying the teenager was a “friend,” the report said.
In addition, Shomaker claimed to not know the teen’s age, guessing that he was 19 or 20.
The preliminary hearing was held at the Jefferson County Courthouse in Hillsboro.