Ryan also acknowledged that he had previously bought emergency contraception, but he insisted it had been for an adult woman he identified only as Britney. When detectives asked for Britney's last name, Ryan said he did not know it and described the relationship as casual. He repeatedly denied ever purchasing those products for his daughter.
Investigators noticed that Ryan appeared increasingly uncomfortable as the questions continued. His physical reaction was not evidence by itself, but the detectives were now comparing his answers against a detailed forensic interview from a child who had been able to describe brands, packaging, locations inside the home, and a timeline of abuse. That comparison made the case more difficult to dismiss as a simple retaliation over clothing.
The detective asked Ryan directly whether he considered his daughter's disclosure a lie. Ryan initially resisted answering because he did not know exactly what she had said, but once the investigator summarized the allegation, Ryan's denial was categorical. No sexual intercourse, he said. No penetration. No sexual contact with his daughter. If she had told investigators otherwise, he said, then what she had said was false.
Then investigators discovered something critical: this was not the first time the girl had made similar allegations. About 15 months earlier, when she had been in elementary school, she had told a friend that Ryan had sexually abused her. A forensic interview was conducted at that time as well.
In the older interview, the girl had been about nine. She acknowledged that she had told a friend something concerning, but once in the formal setting she pulled back from it. She spoke warmly about Ryan, described him as protective, and said she worried about him returning to jail. To investigators reviewing the recording later, the most significant difference was not simply that she denied abuse then and alleged it now; it was the explanation she eventually gave for that reversal.
The earlier recording looked very different from the one investigators were watching now. In that first interview, the girl ultimately denied that Ryan had abused her. She spoke about loving her father, worrying that he might go back to jail, and wanting to protect him. She even said that if someone touched her inappropriately, Ryan would be the person she would tell because she believed he would protect her.
She said that after the first investigation she had gone home with Ryan and that he had been upset about the allegation but relieved by her denial. She remembered promising to protect him. In the older interview, she had worried about Ryan returning to jail and had effectively taken on responsibility for keeping him out of trouble. In the newer interview, she reversed that position: "He always said to lie for me, but this time I'm not going to lie," she explained in substance. In 2022, she told the interviewer that she no longer saw protecting him as more important than protecting herself. She repeatedly returned to one point: she did not feel safe in that house and did not want anyone to make her go back.
In the 2022 interview, she explained why she had recanted. She said she had been afraid and had lied because she did not want Ryan to get into trouble. According to her, Ryan was relieved that she had denied the allegations after the earlier investigation. She now told the interviewer that she would not protect him again because she no longer believed the home was safe.
Ryan remembered the previous child-protection investigation as well. He told investigators that authorities had looked into an abuse report more than a year earlier, searched the home, interviewed his daughter for hours, and then closed the matter without taking further action. To him, that earlier outcome appeared to support his current denial. To detectives, however, the contrast between the two recorded interviews raised the possibility that the child had previously recanted out of fear rather than because the first disclosure was false.
The girl repeatedly said she did not care where she had to live as long as she was not returned to Ryan. She said she would rather be adopted than go back to the house and that if anyone forced her to return, she would run away again. Child welfare authorities took custody of her while investigators prepared search warrants for the residence and for Ryan's DNA.
The search warrant was written around the things the girl had provided that could be independently checked. Detectives were careful because a child's detailed disclosure does not guarantee that every object will still be present when a home is searched. The search therefore had two purposes: look for corroboration of the sexual-abuse account and determine whether Ryan had lied about firearms or ammunition.
Accessing the house turned out to be more complicated than expected because Ryan had accidentally locked his keys inside. Once deputies were able to enter, they searched for the specific items the girl had described. They looked for the black-and-gold condom packaging, pregnancy tests, feminine-care products, medications, and any evidence of a firearm or ammunition.
Deputies focused on the dresser, bathroom, trash, back shop, and other areas identified during the interviews. They did not recover a complete collection of the products the girl had mentioned. That limitation would remain part of the evidentiary picture rather than being ignored. The source indicates that investigators still considered the girl's prior knowledge significant because her descriptions had been given before the search and because some evidence could have been discarded.
Investigators did not find everything the girl had described. That absence mattered and was documented. They also photographed the trash and other areas because the girl had said Ryan routinely concealed or discarded certain evidence in ways intended to prevent discovery.
The search did produce items that drew immediate attention. Deputies found ammunition and a gun case in a back shop area. Ryan said those items were old and dated from a time when he had been legally allowed to possess firearms. What they did not find was the gun itself.