Man guilty of sex assault

Ryan Vaughn, 23, attacked a boy
and tried to assault another
in a separate case

A 23-year-old man accused of attempting to sexually assault a boy last summer in an Ala Moana Center department store restroom, then sexually assaulting another boy in a downtown restroom, pleaded guilty yesterday in Circuit Court.

Ryan Vaughn, 23, entered pleas to two counts of first-degree sexual assault, attempted second-degree sexual assault, second-degree theft and extortion before Circuit Judge Virginia Crandall.

Vaughn accepted responsibility by changing his plea because he did not want to put the victims and their family through any more suffering, said deputy public defender Ed Harada.

"It's one of those sad instances where drug use got the better of him," Harada said.

He said Vaughn is normally a nice guy but that when he uses crystal methamphetamine, his character changes.

"He takes full responsibility, is very sorry and very apologetic, and he know he has to pay for what he did," Harada said.

Vaughn has previous convictions for auto theft.

In the June 14 incident, Vaughn exposed himself to a 16-year-old boy inside the Neiman Marcus restroom at Ala Moana Center and demanded oral sex. The boy got away.

But Vaughn, who claimed to be an undercover security officer, followed the boy and told him that if he paid him cash, he would not arrest him, said Deputy Prosecutor Thalia Murphy. The boy gave Vaughn money and was told not to return to the mall.

On June 22, Vaughn sexually assaulted a 14-year-old boy in the restroom of a Union Street building downtown, Murphy said. According to police, Vaughn had lured the boy to the restroom by promising to give him $200 for helping to look for Vaughn's purportedly missing girlfriend.

Reports were made in both cases, and a composite of the suspect was developed.

Police were conducting surveillance of the restrooms at Ala Moana Center on June 23 when they spotted Vaughn, who fit the description of the suspect. The two boys identified Vaughn in a lineup.

He will be sentenced May 16 and faces a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison.