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OGDEN — A man facing charges of kidnapping and sexually abusing a 14-year-old Ogden boy has been extradited to Utah from California.
Ryan Mitchell Schaffer, 33, was booked into the Weber County Jail Wednesday. He was charged July 31 with aggravated kidnapping, a first-degree felony, and three counts of unlawful sexual activity with a minor, a third-degree felony.
Investigators from Ogden police and the U.S. Marshal's Service were able to track Schaffer down at a home in Eureka, Calif., and arrested him on Aug. 9. He has been in a California jail since then, awaiting extradition to Utah.
Schaffer was being held Thursday without bail and was expected to appear in 2nd District Court on Friday.
On July 3, Schaffer approached a 14-year-old boy as the teen stepped off FrontRunner at 2393 S. Wall Ave. and forced him at knife point to go with him, according to an arrest warrant.
For the next three days, the boy told police that Schaffer took him to several locations and forced him at gunpoint to perform sex acts at least three times. The boy escaped after he was at one point left alone.
After the boy escaped, Schaffer fled Utah with the help of friends and family members, said Ogden Police Lt. Danielle Croyle. Investigators do not believe the people who helped transport and house Schaffer were aware he was wanted by police, she said.
Schaffer then went to a home in Eureka to hide, according to Croyle.
On Aug. 9, investigators from several jurisdictions, including the FBI, went to a house in the 2300 block of Union Street in Eureka and called to the occupants to exit the house. Schaffer was arrested without incident.
In 2007, Schaffer was convicted of two counts of sexual exploitation of a minor, a second-degree felony, in exchange for eight other counts being dismissed. He was sentenced to six months in jail and required to register as a sex offender.
In May 2012, Schaffer was convicted on an amended charge of attempting to not register as a sex offender and giving false information to police.
Schaffer was required in February of 2013 to update his sex offender registration, according to court documents. But when investigators went to his last known address, his mother said he had moved out of state, although she refused to say where he went. Because no other state had record of him moving into their area, Schaffer was charged July 30 in Ogden with failing to register as a sex offender.
