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Ryan Don Ivy
Erath County Sheriff’s Office reported the arrest of Ryan Don Ivy, 42, a Bluff Dale youth minister for Online Solicitation of a Minor on Jan. 12.
ECSO Investigator David Southerland reported in an official complaint that the agency became involved after meeting with a Hood County District Attorney investigator on Sept. 18, 2020. The meeting was in reference to inappropriate online communication between Ivy and a 13-yearold female, who had been interviewed by the Paluxy River Children’s Advocacy Center.
The minor advised that she had been communicating with Ivy in a sexual manner and that she knew him through his work as a youth pastor at a Bluff Dale Church.
The minor indicated that some of their conversations (occurring in summer 2020) had been recorded on a friend’s cell phone.
Investigators analyzed the phone in question and recovered Instagram conversations with an account with the username “ryanivy.” (Ivy reportedly had no indication that he was speaking with anyone other than the minor.)
Investigator Southerland reported that in the recovered conversation, which occurred between July 22 and July 27, 2020, the minor identified herself as a 13-year-old and included a picture of herself which included a backpack.
In the conversation, the minor and Ivy reportedly discussed the possibility of having a “3way” sexual experience, and Ivy, according to the report, also asked the minor about engaging in sexual positions. He reportedly ended several conversations by asking the minor to delete the conversations.
During investigation, Law Enforcement Officers spoke with Scott Pace, Pastor of the Bluff Dale Baptist Church and John Taylor, Superintendent of Bluff Dale ISD (where Ivy was employed as an instructional aide).
Pace reported that Ivy had approached him in late summer 2020 and admitted that he had engaged in a sexual conversation with a female minor via electronic media.
His employment as youth minister continued following the conversation.
Taylor reported that Ivy told him in late summer 2020 that a female minor student had sent him a sexual message via electronic media. Ivy resigned from his position at the school during the course of the conversation.
ECSO Investigator Southerland alleged that since Ivy had direct access on multiple occasions with the female minor that he was communicating with her in a manner which indicated an intent and desire to commit an offense.
Southerland reported that through training and experience, he know many engaged in such conversations with minors do so with the purpose of “grooming” them or preparing them to engage in sexual acts with the perpetrator.
On Jan. 12 at 6:30 a.m. Ivy was booked into the Erath County Jail on a felony arrest warrant for Online Solicitation of a minor. His bond was set at $35,000.
ECSO thanked the following agency for helping in the investigation: Department of Public Safety, Erath County District Attorney’s Office, Child Protective Service and Paluxy River Children’s Advocacy Center.