Update: Sexual assault charges against the only surviving son of murder suspect Lori Vallow have been dropped. Colby Jordan Ryan, 26, was arrested in Arizona earlier this month after his estranged wife accused him of rape, NBC reports. "This office has filed a motion to dismiss without prejudice, which allows the office to file charges in the future and provides time for additional review of the case," Maricopa County Attorney's Office communications director Jennifer Liewer said in a statement to CBS on Tuesday. Ryan, whose mother is accused of murdering her two younger children, was released from custody Thursday and is banned from contacting the alleged victim. Our original story from Sep. 6 follows:
Colby Ryan, the only living son of Lori Vallow, was arrested over the weekend in Maricopa County, Arizona, and charged with sexual assault, according to Fox 10 Phoenix. His mother is awaiting trial in Idaho for capital murder and a slew of other charges after the 2019 disappearances and deaths of her children: Joshua "JJ" Ryan, age 7, and sister Tylee Ryan, 16. Colby Ryan, 26, is Vallow’s oldest son. According to court documents obtained by Fox 10, he is referred to as "Defendant" relating to an alleged sexual assault that occurred Aug. 31.
Court documents state that Ryan went to the alleged victim’s home and engaged in "consensual romantic contact," after which the victim tried to break it off, telling Ryan to stop several times, but he did not comply. Ryan was evidently remorseful afterward. "The Victim said the Defendant said he was sorry and started to cry," according to the documents, which also reveal that Ryan talked to his alleged victim the next day. "During the recorded conversation, the Defendant agreed that he ‘raped’ the Victim." He went on to confess to the "alleged incidents" after his arrest. Specifically, he was charged with sexual assault and is being held at the Maricopa County Jail on $10,000 bail, per Fox News.
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Ryan was never implicated in his mother’s complex and sensational alleged crimes. In fact, as the case unfolded, he pleaded with his mother to “do the right thing” on YouTube and through media interviews, according to People. Upon learning of his siblings’ deaths, he took to Instagram, writing: "I'm broken over this. To not see [your] beautiful faces, hear your voices. Or know that I can't hug you or see you kills me." Lori Vallow and her husband, Chad Daybell—described as a "Doomsday" author—are in custody in Idaho, awaiting trial set for January. The bodies were discovered in June 2020 on Daybell's property. (Lori Vallow also faces charges stemming from the death of ex-husband Charles Vallow.)
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