Ryan Gary Patch, a 28-year-old from Dayton, Ohio, was sentenced to 15 years in federal prison and a lifetime of supervised release after pleading guilty to transporting a minor with intent to engage in criminal sexual activity. The sentencing took place in St. George, Utah, where U.S. District Court Judge Ann Marie McIff Allen also ordered Patch to pay $11,093.15 in restitution to the victim.
Court documents reveal that on July 24, 2024, Cedar City Police received information about an abducted minor traveling through Utah. The victim, a 15-year-old girl from California whom Patch met on Instagram, contacted her family using a newly created account on an iPad after her original phone had been broken and discarded by Patch. He instructed her to reset electronic devices and deleted their Snapchat and Instagram accounts.
Officers located the vehicle described by the victim and found Patch asleep in the front seat with the teenage girl in the back seat. Initially claiming she was his sister, officers confirmed her identity as the missing child after speaking with her. Authorities discovered child sexual abuse materials depicting the victim on an iPad inside the car. Search warrants executed on Snapchat accounts linked to both Patch and the victim revealed child pornography involving the victim as well as plans for abduction.
“It was only due to the victim’s technological savvy and quick thinking that Patch’s terrifying plan was undone. Nonetheless, his abduction of the victim has inflicted trauma no one should have to endure,” said Acting U.S. Attorney Felice John Viti of the District of Utah. Communities are safer with defendants like Patch behind bars, and it is our hope that the victim and her family can continue to heal knowing justice is being served.”
The investigation involved cooperation between Utah Department of Public Safety agencies including Utah Highway Patrol (UHP), State Bureau of Investigation (SBI), and Cedar City Police Department.
Assistant United States Attorneys Christopher Burton and Brady Wilson prosecuted this case for the District of Utah.
This prosecution falls under Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative started by the Department of Justice in May 2006 aimed at fighting child sexual exploitation online by bringing together federal, state, and local resources for investigations and prosecutions related to these crimes.
