At a preliminary hearing before Montezuma County Judge JenniLynn Lawrence on Wednesday, Nov. 12, Ryan Carter, 29, was ordered to submit to a HIV test after five felony child sexual assault charges were bound over to district court. Lawrence heard testimony from a county social worker and a state investigator.
“There is sufficient evidence to bound over each count – count one, count two, count three, count four and count five,” Lawrence ruled.
Despite hearsay objections from public defender Katherine Whitney, Lawrence explained a lower burden of proof was required at a preliminary hearing. She said evidence presented at Wednesday’s hearing showed the “defendant may have committed the crimes.”
Court records reveal that Carter was initially charged with eight counts of sexual assault on a child. The former Cortez Police Department officer allegedly had three sexual encounters with a 14-year-old girl between June 19 and July 11.
On direct examination, Montezuma County social services case worker Chris Veach outlined each sexual encounter in detail as explained to her by the alleged victim during a forensics interview in July. When asked to describe the alleged victim’s demeanor, Veach replied, “She looked like a little girl who was breaking up with her boyfriend.”
On cross examination, Veach said the alleged victim didn’t initially report the second and third sexual encounter until after speaking to her mother during an interview break.
Jeff Brown, an agent with the Colorado Bureau of Investigations major crimes division, testified that Carter was clueless about the allegations when their two-hour interview launched in July. Carter denied the allegations, Brown said.
“Mr. Carter was cooperative,” Brown replied when asked to describe the defendant’s demeanor. “He had a flat affect, for a lack of a better word.”
On cross-examination, Whitney pressed the state investigator about her client’s manner.
“He was not overly emotional up or down throughout the interview,” said Brown.
Whitney also attempted to inquire of Brown about text messages between her client and the alleged victim, but Lawrence quickly shut down the line of questioning after Assistant District Attorney Sean Murray objected.
“This is a fishing expedition,” Murray said.
Contained in an arrest warrant, Carter allegedly engaged in inappropriate text message conversations with the now-15-year-old girl. Carter reportedly told her not to tell anyone of the alleged offenses, because “he would lose his job” and “not be able to see his kids.”
After his arrest on July 11, Carter resigned from the police department via a jailhouse resignation letter before posting a $100,000 bond. He had been employed with the agency nearly three years.
Carter was ordered to appear before District Court Judge Todd Plewe for arraignment on Dec. 18.
tbaker@cortezjournal.com