CRIME
Roy police officer rearrested on charges of sexually abusing 2 minors
Oct 4, 2022, 2:45 PM | Updated: Nov 18, 2022, 11:33 pm
(Roy City Police Department/Facebook)
(Roy City Police Department/Facebook)
ROY, Utah — A Roy police officer placed on administrative leave last year was arrested a second time on Saturday and charged again with sexually abusing two minor girls.
Ryan A. Estes, 38, was initially charged in October 2021 with two counts of rape of a child and three counts of aggravated sexual abuse of a child, first-degree felonies, in Farmington’s 2nd District Court.
At the time, he was placed on administrative leave with the Roy Police Department, pending a review of the charges against him.
The rape charges were both amended in November 2021 to aggravated sexual abuse of a child, again first-degree felonies.
All charges but one were dropped last month after defense attorney Richard Gallegos successfully argued that the alleged crimes associated with counts two through four did not occur in Davis County, and therefore Davis County was the incorrect venue to prosecute those charges.
Estes pleaded not guilty to the remaining Davis County charge.
He was arrested again on Saturday and charged in Ogden’s 2nd District Court with four counts of aggravated sexual abuse of a child, a first-degree felony.
Estes was booked into the Davis County Jail on Saturday and remained there Monday evening. The prosecution has asked that Estes be held without bail, but that decision is still pending. He has not yet entered any pleas.
The incidents are alleged to have occurred between 2015 and 2017, court records show.
Estes sexually abused one minor on multiple occasions, charging documents state. The girl told prosecutors Estes had touched her sexually “over the clothing” and said he had made her touch him.
Another minor also said Estes sexually and inappropriately touched her, according to investigators. When she told him to stop, he said, “Why are you resisting this?” according to the charging documents. The second minor told investigators Estes had repeatedly touched her “in a way which (made) her very uncomfortable.”
It was unclear Tuesday whether Estes is still employed with the police department.
