A Sanford man with a domestic violence protection order against him is being held without bond in the Marion County Jail after being found hiding in the closet of a Summerfield home where he’s prohibited from being.
Christopher Thomas Ryan, 30, was charged with violating a protection order for domestic violence, unarmed burglary of an unoccupied dwelling and petit theft (second or third offense). Ryan, who was charged with aggravated child abuse in August 2018, was served with an injunction in April that says he is restrained from going to the home where the child resides. He’s prohibited from coming within 500 feet of the child.
A Marion County sheriff’s deputy responded Monday to the home on SE 94th Terrace, where a social worker was checking on the mother and child. The social worker said when she arrived, she saw the garage door was partially open and she could see the legs of an unknown male. She called the victim, who said she was not at the residence and no one else was supposed to be there, according to the sheriff’s office report.
The social worker told the deputy she believed the man she saw in the garage was Ryan. The deputy saw the garage door was partially open. The victim said she didn’t leave the garage door open when she left. She said Ryan doesn’t have permission to be in the residence and she hasn’t been in contact with him, the report said.
The juvenile was in the vehicle with the victim, who gave deputies permission to search the residence. Deputies found Ryan sitting in the corner of a bedroom closet, concealed by clothing and other items. He told the deputies he had permission to be at the residence and had text messages to prove it, according to the report.
The victim reiterated to the deputy that Ryan did not have permission to be in the home and said he hasn’t been allowed to be there since she took his key in October 2018. She said she hasn’t been in contact with Ryan and denied having messages on her phone stating otherwise. She said her phone has been broken for about two weeks and she has been unable to make phone calls or send text messages, according to the report.
After being read his Miranda warning, Ryan said he knew he wasn’t supposed to be at the home and after initially saying he was only there to fix the victim’s vehicle, he said he had been at the residence on several recent occasions and even claimed to have slept there the previous night with the victim’s permission. Ryan again said he had a text message conversation between him and the victim that proved he had permission to be at the residence, the report said.
Ryan gave the deputy permission to look at the messages on his phone, and the deputy saw multiple messages sent by Ryan to the victim but none from the victim. Ryan’s phone had information showing Ryan made an outgoing call to the victim but no indication that the call had been connected. The last text message from the victim to Ryan was on or around Dec. 8 and did not mention anything about Ryan having permission to be at the residence, according to the report.
After being placed under arrest, Ryan said he took medication he found at the residence because he didn’t want to live any more. While on the way to the Summerfield emergency room, he said he ingested several Wellbutrin pills belonging to the victim. The victim confirmed she was missing three Wellbutrin pills that were worth $6, the report said.
After being medically cleared, Ryan was taken to the Marion County Jail. He’s scheduled to appear in Marion County Court on Jan. 21.