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Prosecutors Drop Sex Assault Charges Against Lori Vallow's Son Pending 'Additional Review'
A spokesman for the Maricopa County Attorney's Office said prosecutors made the decision to drop the charges "without prejudice"—meaning they can be refiled in the future—to allow for time for an "additional review" of the case.
Prosecutors have dropped sexual assault charges against Lori Vallow’s oldest son to allow time for “additional review” of the case.
The Maricopa County Attorney’s Office dismissed the charges against Colby Ryan on Friday.
“This office has filed a motion to dismiss without prejudice, which allows the office to file charges in the future and allows time for additional review of the case,” communications director Jennifer Liewer said in a statement to Oxygen.com.
Ryan was released from jail Friday and ordered not to initiate contact with the alleged victim or arresting officers, according to a warrant obtained by Oxygen.com.
Ryan had previously been charged with two counts of domestic violence sexual assault after a woman accused him of raping her at her Mesa home while the pair were watching TV, according to a probable cause statement obtained previously by Oxygen.com.
The woman told police the romantic contact began consensually, but at some point, she wanted to stop and told Ryan “stop” and “I don’t want to do this.”
She told detectives he raped her even though she tried to push him away.
Ryan is the sole surviving child of Lori Vallow, who is currently behind bars awaiting trial for killing her two younger children, 16-year-old Tylee Ryan and 7-year-old Joshua “JJ” Vallow.
Chad Daybell, Vallow’s fifth husband and a religious doomsday author, has also been charged with killing the children, who were found buried on his Idaho property in June of 2020.
Both have been charged with first-degree murder and conspiracy for the deaths. They also face conspiracy related charges in connection with the death of Chad’s first wife Tammy Daybell, who was found dead in the couple’s home in October of 2019, KSL reports. Vallow is also facing conspiracy charges in the July 2019 death of her fourth husband, Charles Vallow.
Ryan has previously spoken out against his mother, telling The U.S. Sun earlier this year that he “100 percent” believes his mom is responsible for his siblings’ deaths.
“They took my family away from me, they took them away from everybody else who loved them,” he said. “It’s one of the most painful things ever to hear, to hear details of how your own people, that you grew up around and loved, killed your own family.”
