Casper man gets 8–12 years in prison on sexual abuse conviction

CASPER, Wyo. — A Casper man was sentenced to eight to 12 years in prison Tuesday after a jury convicted him of third-degree sexual abuse of a minor last summer.

Ryan Dale Townsend, 36, still maintains his innocence, according to his attorney, Tim Cotton, who addressed Judge Kerri Johnson at sentencing on Tuesday morning.

“He stands here today saying he did not do this, judge,” Cotton said.

Cotton pointed out that the jury had acquitted Townsend of two counts of second-degree abuse related to two specific sex acts. The jury had convicted on “immodest, immoral and indecent liberties.” 

“I don’t know what that would be,” Cotton said. “What we really don’t know is what actions they thought he did that constituted third-degree sexual abuse of a minor.”

At the trial in July, the state presented testimony by a 16-year-old girl who said that Townsend sexually assaulted her in his trailer after letting her smoke an electronic marijuana device in late April 2023.

The victim said from the stand that on the day in question, she had been at her friend’s trailer next door to Townsend. She said Townsend invited the two girls over to hit a vape device, which Townsend told police contained CBD.

Later, around midnight, she said Townsend invited them back for more. She said the device left her much more intoxicated this time, and she felt partially paralyzed. She said her friend went back next door to use her own bathroom, got sidetracked and did not return, leaving her alone with Townsend in his bedroom.

She said she tried to fight Townsend off as he began kissing her and taking off her clothes, then stopped fighting as Townsend proceeded to rape her.

She said she told her friend what happened immediately after she left. Weeks later, her friend disclosed the allegations to her own mother, leading the victim’s mother to address the allegations and contact the Casper Police Department. 

“If it happened, it’s terrible, but the evidence is not there that it happened,” Cotton said during closings.

State prosecutor Brandon Rosty said during closing arguments that the girls had no plausible motive to lie and that inconsistencies in a victim’s statements over time are common after traumatic events. 

“The defendant targeted these girls,” Rosty said during closing. “He knew they had problems and knew they wouldn’t be believed.”

Body camera footage of Detective Chris Miller’s initial interview with Townsend was played for the jury. “I was never alone with her,” Townsend said. Cotton replayed part of the interview during closing arguments, asking the jury to gauge Townsend’s real-time reaction when Miller informed him of the allegations.

Swabs taken of the sheets on Townsend’s bed and the victim’s clothing were analyzed by the state crime lab but yielded no conclusive links. Cotton pointed out that the victim’s phone was not collected by police until a year after the investigation began, and that it had been “scrubbed” before it was handed over. Cotton said that none of Townsend’s roommates saw the girls come back a second time on the night in question.