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WEBER COUNTY — Ryan Mitchell Schaffer sits behind bars at the Weber County Jail accused of kidnapping and sexually abusing a 14-year-old boy. Now that boy is coming forward to tell his story.
He’s only an eighth grader, but ever since he was allegedly kidnapped last July, he hasn't felt comfortable going back to school, or even leaving home.
He said he wants to talk about what happened to him now because he feels the Weber County Attorney's Office is mishandling his case.
The boy, who didn’t want to be identified, says he’s the victim of Schaffer.
“I'd like to see him locked up forever, because I don't want to see him hurt another kid,” the boy said.
Schaffer, 34, is a convicted sex offender charged with aggravated kidnapping and three counts of forcible sodomy.
He’s accused of kidnapping the teen back in July and forcing him to perform sex acts over three days.
The teenage victim says it all started at the Ogden frontrunner station. He said when he got off the train, Schaffer followed him.
“All of a sudden I looked back and there he was,” the boy said.
The teen was walking toward a Subway restaurant when he says Schaffer came up behind him with a knife.
“It was a pocket knife that he pulled out of his pocket,” he said. “And he told me to come with him.”
Over the next few days, Schaffer allegedly took the teen to several different friends' houses in Ogden, introducing the boy as his cousin.
He told me that he was going to kill me. After he was done with me he told me that he was going to kill me.
–boy allegedly kidnapped by Ryan Schaffer
The teen says he was too afraid to talk to anyone, too afraid to run.
“He told me that he was going to kill me,” he said. “After he was done with me he told me that he was going to kill me.”
But on the third day, the teen escaped when Schaffer went into the bathroom. He said he ran as fast as he could and jumped on a bus and headed to his grandma's house.
Schaffer was eventually arrested in California after he fled the state. The teen is coming forward now, because he's upset with the way the case is being handled.
He says prosecutors are going to offer Schaffer a plea deal, charging him with three counts of unlawful sexual activity with a minor.
“That scares me for my own safety, but then that scares me because I don't want to see another kid get hurt,” the boy said.
Officials at the Weber County Attorney's Office would not confirm if they're planning to offer Schaffer a plea deal. They did say they are looking at evidence in the case and are still trying to determine whether this was in fact a kidnapping.
