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The Independent UK
The Independent UK
National
Graig Graziosi

‘Cult mom’ Lori Vallow’s son arrested on charges for domestic violence sexual assault

Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office

The son of Lori Vallow — the so-called “cult mom” charged with killing her two children — is facing charges for sex crimes.

Colby Ryan, Ms Vallow’s only living child, was arrested in Arizona and booked into the Maricopa County Jail on 4 September. He has been charged with two counts of domestic violence/sexual assault.

According to court documents obtained by Fox10 Phoenix, the incident that prompted the charges took place on 31 August but was not reported until 2 September.

Investigators claim Mr Ryan visited the undisclosed victim’s home and they watched TV together before engaging in consensual romantic contact.

At some point the alleged victim wanted to stop, and claims they expressed that to Mr Ryan several times. The alleged victim claims Mr Ryan continued to touch her sexually without her consent.

The woman says she told Mr Ryan that she was not ok with his alleged actions and asked him for space after the incident.

She claims in the court documents that this prompted Mr Ryan to apologise and begin crying.

The next morning, the alleged victim recorded a conversation between herself and Mr Ryan.

"During the recorded conversation, the Defendant agreed that he ‘raped’ the Victim," the court document said.

Officials claim that after Mr Ryan was read his Miranda warning he admitted to raping the woman. He was arrested and is being held on a $10,000 bond. He’ll make his first court appearance later this week.

Prior to this incident, Mr Ryan was deeply involved in the hunt for his two missing younger siblings, Tylee Ryan, 16, and Joshua "JJ" Vallow, 7.

The pair went missing sometime in 2019 just months after Ms Vallow's ex-husband, Charles Vallow, died.

Lather that year she married Chad Daybell and moved to Hawaii. In January 2020, after news reporters began covering the disappearance of her children, Ms Vallow was served an order to physically produce JJ and Tylee. She did not, and was taken into custody.

During that time her son, Colby Ryan, posted numerous YouTube videos pleading for information about his siblings’ whereabouts and sharing how he visited his mother in prison seeking the truth. He told the US Sun that her only response was that "everything's going to be revealed soon."

Four months after Ms Vallow’s arrest, the remains of the children were found on Mr Daybell's property.

The couple has been indicted on conspiracy to commit first-degree murder and first-degree murder, among other charges.

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