Child rapist knowingly transmitted HIV to 14-year-old boy during sexual assault in Idaho: report

A man knowingly gave HIV to a 14-year-old boy that he raped in a church parking lot in Rigby, Idaho, according to court documents reviewed by East Idaho News.

Ryan Cook, 39, who has already been charged with multiple felonies, was given an additional charge for potentially giving HIV to a minor. He has already been charged with felony lewd conduct with a child under 16 as well as enticing children over the internet.

According to the court documents reviewed by the outlet, the stepfather of the 14-year-old boy filed a report with the Idaho Falls Police Department on March 30, alleging that his 14-year-old stepson was receiving nude photos and video from Cook and that he had been raped by the suspect.

The stepfather had been going through the 14-year-old's phone when he came across "several disturbing images" which were "pornographic in nature."

Officers spoke to the boy, who stated that in 2023 he got a social media request from a stranger and had approved it, as he thought it was from someone at his school. The two began talking and asking "basic questions" about each other, which eventually led to Cook sending nude photos to the boy, according to the documents.

During a May 1 forensic interview, the boy said that he and Cook would talk about "inappropriate things" and that Cook asked for nude photos from the boy. The two reportedly planned to meet in Rigby, Idaho, and Cook picked up the boy from an area near Broulim's on Feb. 10.

The 14-year-old said that when Cook picked him up, Cook said he "wanted to have intercourse" but wanted to "keep it a secret" as "people don't understand this type of situation," according to the court document reviewed by the outlet.

According to the boy, Cook then drove him to a church parking lot where the 14-year-old was raped. The boy said he told Cook to stop multiple times, but Cook reportedly continued the sexual assault. When the police investigated, they found an audio file from the boy's phone which recorded Cook saying "I hope you enjoyed that as much as I did," and referenced the reported rape.

Officers also discovered that Cook was allegedly part of a group chat with other men where there were “767 assorted photographs and videos of erotic fondling/masturbation, erotic nudity, and erotica (were) located on (Cook’s) Snapchat messages.”