Utah judge refuses proposed deal for accused kidnapper

Ogden • A judge refused to accept a plea agreement Tuesday morning for an Ogden man accused of kidnapping and sexually abusing a 14-year-old boy last summer.

Ryan Mitchell Schaffer, 34, is charged in 2nd District Court with four first-degree felonies — one charge of aggravated kidnapping and three charges of forcible sodomy. He is accused of kidnapping the victim from an Ogden train station and forcing the boy to commit sexual acts with him over several days in July.

A preliminary hearing was scheduled for Tuesday morning, but after an almost two-hour delay, Judge Mark DeCaria took the bench and announced that he had been presented with a settlement in the case, but he was not going to "entertain" the potential deal.

"It's quite a diversion," DeCaria said. "Quite a change from what is originally charged. Oftentimes, the devil is in the details, and I'm not convinced that all necessary details have been resolved."

DeCaria did not detail the proposed plea deal, and attorneys declined to discuss the case after the hearing was over.

The judge told attorneys that more discussion needs to be had before the resolution is accepted, and set a May 19 court date so the case could be resolved or the preliminary hearing reset, if necessary.

Schaffer fled Utah after the alleged crime and was eventually arrested in California and had to be extradited back to the state.

Police say Schaffer approached the teen at a FrontRunner station on July 3 and threatened him with a knife. Schaffer allegedly took the boy all over Ogden over the next three days and forced the boy to have sex, sometimes at gunpoint.

Schaffer is a registered sex offender in Utah, stemming from a 2007 case in Salt Lake County in which he pleaded guilty to two counts of second-degree felony exploitation of a minor.

jmiller@sltrib.com

Twitter: @jm_miller