Key West man answered online ad offering 11-year-old for sex, feds say

Federal agents arrested a Florida Keys man last week who they say sought sexual relations with an 11-year-old boy after seeing an ad on a hook-up website posted by someone claiming to be the boy’s uncle, according to court documents.

The boy does not exist, and the “uncle” was an undercover federal agent monitoring the website for child sexual exploitation. Robert Anthony Ryker, 48, of Key West took the bait, a U.S. Department of Homeland Security Investigations criminal complaint says.

Ryker, using the email address “johndoughkw@gmail.com,” replied to a message from the agent, who posted Oct. 22 that he was looking for “incest role play” and wanted to introduce his nephew “to the scene,” according to the complaint.

While other users of the website, which was not named in the complaint, warned fellow participants “to stay away from this man and to not get into trouble,” Ryker wrote to the undercover agent that he wanted to have sex with the boy, “specifically, oral sex,” HSI Special Agent Travis Jones wrote in the complaint.

On Oct. 23, Ryker sent a graphic email to the undercover agent describing himself physically and wanting to know details about the boy’s body, Jones wrote.

After receiving an email from the agent stating he would allow Ryker to be with his nephew, a meeting was set up on Oct. 27 at a gas station on Key Haven, near Key West. Agents arrested Ryker as soon as he arrived.

Ryker, who lives in apartment on White Street in Key West, is registered with the Florida Department of Law Enforcement as a convicted sexual offender. According to the FDLE, he was convicted of molesting a child in Howard, Indiana, in March 1997.

After being read his rights to remain silent and to have an attorney, Ryker admitted to federal agents that he corresponded with someone via email who was offering an 11-year-old boy for sex, according to the complaint.

“Ryker admitted that he traveled to meet the 11-year-old boy for the purpose of engaging in sexual activity,” Jones wrote.

This story was originally published October 30, 2017 at 2:49 PM with the headline "Key West man answered online ad offering 11-year-old for sex, feds say."