A former Byrnes Mill reserve police officer has been sentenced to probation for sodomizing a boy he met on a dating app.
Ryan Shomaker, 48, of Washington, Mo., pleaded guilty to second-degree sodomy in Jefferson County on Dec. 2, and he pleaded guilty to the same charge in St. Louis County on Nov. 22.
On Dec. 2, Jefferson County Div. 5 Circuit Judge Victor Melenbrink sentenced Shomaker to seven years in prison in the Jefferson County case, and St. Louis County Circuit Judge Joseph Dueker sentenced Shomaker to seven years in the St. Louis County case. However, but both sentences were suspended and Shomaker was placed on five years’ probation, court records show.
Initially Shomaker was charged in Jefferson County with first-degree statutory sodomy, an unclassified felony punishable by five years to life in prison, and in St. Louis County with two counts of sodomy, court records show.
Joseph Wayne Flees II, who took over as Shomaker’s attorney in April 2020, said he was satisfied with the outcomes of both cases.
“It was a negotiated resolution with both counties,” Flees said Dec. 6. “We feel it addresses some of the potential concerns the state may have had in the case with their victim. It is essentially a fair outcome.”
During a March 29, 2019, preliminary hearing before Jefferson County Div. 10 Associate Circuit Judge Jeffrey Coleman, Shomaker’s lawyer, Mark Hammer, argued that the victim’s testimony showed inconsistencies. Jefferson County assistant prosecuting attorney Shannon O’Neal said testimony from minors often produces inconsistencies in dates and other details and argued that since the “sexual contact” lasted four years, any inconsistencies in the victim’s testimony regarding exact dates were inconsequential.
The case eventually was sent to Melenbrink, and Jefferson County assistant prosecuting attorney Travis Dean Parney took over handling the case, court records show.
The molestation began February 2014 when the victim was 13, and continued until sometime in 2018, the probable-cause statement in the case said.
Shomaker “separated” from the Byrnes Mill Police Department on Oct. 31, 2018, Chief Frank Selvaggio told the Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office. However, Byrnes Mill officials would not say if Shomaker resigned or was fired.
According to the probable-cause statement, the victim told a Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office deputy that Shomaker sexually molested him multiple times during his juvenile years, “at least two of which were within the Jefferson County jurisdiction.”
The victim told authorities he met Shomaker through Grindr, which claims to be the world’s largest social networking app for gay, bisexual, transgender and queer people.
The boy said the two first met in February 2014, after the victim posted a profile on Grinder and Shomaker saw it and requested to meet him, the probable-cause statement said.
The victim said the first time the two met, Shomaker picked him up near the Candlelight Gardens neighborhood and then the two went to Shomaker’s former home in Eureka, where the victim was sexually molested, according to the report.
About three days after that meeting, Shomaker contacted the boy again and arranged to meet near the Candlelight Gardens neighborhood and then drove the boy to a parking lot at the Pleasant Valley Nature Reserve in House Springs, where Shomaker molested the boy again, the statement said.
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 victim told authorities he tried to end contact with Shomaker several times, but Shomaker threatened to seek charges against the victim’s family, the report said.
Shomaker told investigators he had a relationship with the victim for at least two years, but he would not comment about the sexual nature of the relationship, saying the teenager was a “friend.” In addition, Shomaker claimed to not know the teen’s age, guessing he was 19 or 20, according to the report.
However, Shomaker admitted that he knew the boy was in high school for part of the time they knew each other but claimed he didn’t know when the victim graduated. Investigators, though, said Shomaker knew the boy’s graduation date based on text messages between him and the victim, the report said.