OGDEN, Utah -- A registered sex offender is back behind bars after police found him near an Ogden Elementary School.
According to police, it was a parent picking their child up from North Ogden Elementary who recognized Ryan Schaffer.
Wednesday, Kirk Chugg was picking his little girl up from school when he noticed a car that didn’t look familiar. When he looked inside, he was surprised to recognize the man in the driver’s seat as Ryan Schaffer, someone he’d attended Weber High School with.
“I had seen the reports and the mug shots and things of his previous run ins with the law, and I thought, I think that’s him," Chugg said.
In July of 2013, Schaffer--who is a registered sex offender--allegedly kidnapped a 14-year-old boy in Ogden at knifepoint and forced the teen to perform sexual acts.
Last January, he was extradited back to Utah from California, where he was arrested. He was released on bail and had been awaiting trial when Chugg spotted him at the North Ogden Park near his daughter's school.
“I just recognized him and I thought if that is him then he doesn’t belong in a park with kids, especially right here where kids are being picked up," Chugg said.
Lt. Dirk Quinney of the North Ogden Police Department said Schaffer knew he should not have been in that area.
“Being a registered sex offender, they are fully aware of what they are and are not supposed to be doing, and hanging out at parks and schools is one thing they know they aren’t supposed to be doing," he said.
According to police, that wasn’t Schaffer’s only offense. Police said they found drug paraphernalia as well as marijuana in Schaffer’s car. The car he was in hadn’t been registered either.
“Whether it’s for a day or five days, whether he owns it or not: He did not have this particular vehicle registered and he was arrested for that as well,” Quinney said. “He has to register any vehicle he uses, and he’s not permitted in certain areas where mostly minor children are going to congregate.”
Schaffer was booked into the Weber County Jail on two counts of being a sex offender in a restricted area and one count each of possession of marijuana and possession of drug paraphernalia. He’s also facing two failure to comply with sex offender registration requirements, which are third-degree felonies on top of his already pending felonies, which makes him ineligible for bail.
His next court appearance is set for Monday.
