A Lewis Center man who was found guilty of 80 charges involving child pornography and sentenced to four years in prison, has filed an appeal with the Fifth District Court of Appeals, asking for his conviction to be overturned.
Dr. David Thomas Ryan, 56, of 3725 Wood Stone Drive, Lewis Center, was found guilty of 43 counts of pandering obscenity involving a minor and 37 counts of pandering sexually oriented matter involving a minor, all second-degree felonies, after a three-day trial in Delaware County Common Pleas Court in November 2017. Prosecutors alleged that Ryan had numerous images and videos of child pornography, including images and videos involving children as young as toddlers.
At a sentencing hearing in December, Delaware County Common Pleas Court Judge Everett Krueger sentenced Ryan to four years in prison, but suspended the sentence during Ryan’s appeal. Ryan’s attorney Donald Gallick filed a notice of appeal with Krueger’s court on Monday stating he had also filed with the Fifth District Court of Appeals.
According to the docketing statement, the basis for the appeal includes excluded expert witness testimony and a suppression hearing ruling.
There were no other filings in the appeals case as of Tuesday.
During the trial, Ryan testified that he was innocent and claimed the images were downloaded by a neighbor who was a registered sex offender, but prosecutors dismissed these claims and said the images were downloaded on 15 different occasions over four years and were moved all around Ryan’s computer and flash drives.
“It’s the most ridiculous thing I’ve ever heard,” said Assistant Delaware County Prosecutor Mark Sleeper at Ryan’s sentencing hearing.
During the sentencing hearing, Krueger said Ryan would have to surrender his passport and post $350,000 bond with the court. Krueger told Ryan that he must register as a Tier II sex offender and will face five years of post-release control at the end of his prison term.
Ryan was indicted on Feb. 1, 2017 and prosecutors said the indictment came after it was reported that an individual made email transactions known to contain child pornography. The Delaware County Sheriff’s Office, along with the Franklin County Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force, investigated the downloading and file sharing of child pornography.
Several electronic items were seized in a search warrant executed at Ryan’s home. Another search warrant was obtained for an additional electronic item, which was seized at his business, Columbus Chiropractic Center.
Ryan was free on bond, on house arrest, Tuesday.
