Booking photo for Tyler James Ray (Courtesy: Cache County Jail).
LOGAN — A 23-year-old Logan man has confessed to sexually assaulting a woman and teenage girl several years ago. Tyler J. Ray accepted a plea deal that will keep him from going to trial.
Ray appeared in 1st District Court Tuesday morning for a pretrial conference. He pleaded guilty an amended count of attempted rape, a first-degree felony; and sexual battery, a class A misdemeanor.
Public defender Shannon Demler explained that as part of Ray’s plea, prosecutors agreed to drop the remaining charges, and only ask for one year in jail instead of prison.
Cache County Deputy Attorney Dane Murray also said that Ray agreed to a no contact order with the two victims.
According to a police report, officers began investigating Ray after one of the victims reported being raped to officers. The woman, who is an acquaintance of the defendant, reported the crime occurred around September 2016, when Ray would have been around 20-years-old. She described that there was physical abuse during sexual and non-sexual moments in their relationship. She also claimed that he raped her multiple times while she told him “no” and cried.
Through the course of the investigation, detectives learned of a separate incident involving another woman. She described incidents where she was held down and sodomized around seven years ago, when she was a teenager and he would have been around 16-years-old. The second alleged victim was also an acquaintance.
Officers interviewed Ray, who originally claimed his relationship with both women was always consensual. However, he later admitted that during times of sexual activity he was unable to control his sexual urges.
Judge Brian Cannell met briefly in chambers with both attorneys before Tuesday’s hearing. Later he said he would allow the plea deal based on the age of the victims and defendant at the times the crimes occurred.
Ray was schedule to be sentenced April 13. He was ordered to continue wearing an ankle monitor, while on pre-trial supervision.
will@cvradio.com