Man arrested in
restroom sex assaultsRyan Vaughn allegedly
targeted teens downtown
and at Ala Moana Center
Honolulu police arrested and charged a 23-year-old man for allegedly sexually assaulting one teenage boy and attempting to assault another in public restrooms.
CORRECTION
Saturday, June 26, 2004The alleged sex assault on a 14-year-old boy downtown Tuesday occurred at 1132 Union St., according to police. A Page A1 article in the early edition incorrectly gave the address as 1132 Bishop St.
The Honolulu Star-Bulletin strives to make its news report fair and accurate. If you have a question or comment about news coverage, call Editor Frank Bridgewater at 529-4791 or email him at corrections@starbulletin.com.
The suspect, Ryan M. Vaughn, also known as Lenny M. and Ryan Keoni, was charged yesterday with two counts of first-degree assault, one count of second-degree sex assault, one count of second-degree attempted sexual assault, one count of first-degree extortion and one count of second-degree theft. He is being held in lieu of $150,000 bail.
Ryan Vaughn: He is arrested in restroom incidents downtown and at Ala Moana
Police said that on June 14 Vaughn attempted to coax a 16-year-old boy into a bathroom stall in the restrooms near the center stage at Ala Moana Center.
The boy refused and walked to Neiman Marcus to use the bathroom, but did not know the suspect was following him.
As the teenager was about to leave the bathroom stall, Vaughn allegedly entered it and confronted the teen, claiming to be an undercover security guard and said he was arresting the victim as part of a sting operation. Police said the suspect pulled his shorts down to his ankles and told the teenager to perform oral sex on him. The teen refused.
Police said the suspect continued to demand oral sex but the victim managed to get past him. Vaughn continued to follow the teenager around the mall, all the while talking on his cell phone to "security," saying he was arresting the victim, police said.
Vaughn then told the teen that he was going to let him go, but only if he was paid a couple hundred dollars cash, according to police. The boy agreed, contacted a friend who loaned him the money, and gave it to the suspect who ordered him to leave and not come back to the mall. The teenager then contacted police.
Detectives said that on Tuesday, Vaughn approached a 14-year-old boy downtown and asked for help to look for his girlfriend because he was not allowed to enter certain buildings. Vaughn allegedly offered the boy about $200 to help him search and he agreed to help.
After walking around for a while, the suspect allegedly told the boy that he would give him the cash but not in public. They entered a restroom at 1136 Bishop St. and police said the suspect sexually "accosted" the boy by performing oral sex on him.
Police said Vaughn told the boy that he had a gun, though he did not actually threaten the victim with it. The suspect left the restroom and the teen reported the incident to police.
Detectives said they were able to put together a composite picture of the suspect the next day, based on the victims' descriptions and were doing surveillance on the Ala Moana center stage restroom when they saw a man who matched the description.
Police arrested Vaughn at the mall and both teenage victims identified him in a photographic line-up.
Vaughn, who has no local address, has previous convictions for auto theft and second-degree theft, police said.
Detectives suspect he may be linked to similar cases, but are concerned that police reports have not been made because sexual assaults on male victims typically go unreported.
Detectives ask that anyone who was involved in a similar incident call 911.
