WARNING: the following includes mentions of abuse
A 29-year-old father from Kansas City, Missouri who advocated for the banning of books containing LGBTQ+ material was arrested on charges of child molestation.
Ryan Utterback, who has previously spoken out against North Kansas City School District libraries carrying books that included LGBTQ+ content, is facing felony charges of child molestation, misdemeanor domestic assault and furnishing pornographic material to a child.
A couple of months back, some North Kansas City students invited me to stand with them against the banning of certain books. \n\nOn the opposite side stood Ryan Utterback, a parent in favor of the book bans. Today, he\u2019s facing two child molestation charges.https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.kmbc.com/amp/article/northland-school-book-ban-advocate-ryan-utterback-child-molestation-charge/38927670\u00a0\u2026— Justice Horn (@Justice Horn) 1643473858
Utterback has pleaded not guilty and was on bond prior to appearing in Thursday's court hearing at the Clay County Courthouse.
According to KMBC, a probable cause statement alleged Utterback sexually assaulted a child under the age of 12 in December 2020.
In a separate incident from 2020, Utterback made physical contact with a 14-year-old who said it was "uncomfortable" and they “didn't like it at all."
According to another probable cause statement, Utterback showed cellphone footage of pornography to a 4-year-old child.
You can watch the KMBC News report here:
The news station investigated Utterback's case and found he attended several school board meetings advocating for the banning of certain books containing LGBTQ+ content calling it "sexual material" inappropriate for children.
The hypocrisy of his cause was not lost on Twitter users.
Why are we not surprised?— lynchzilla (@lynchzilla) 1643504523
Utterly predictable.pic.twitter.com/Nt9IGpXrcs— Suzan Scott (@Suzan Scott) 1643470409
Somehow, that just makes sense.— Tom (@Tom) 1643471860
Well that\u2019s a shocker— ShutUpWolf (@ShutUpWolf) 1643471787
Because of f**king course— !broken need a fix\ud83c\uddfa\ud83c\uddf8 (@!broken need a fix\ud83c\uddfa\ud83c\uddf8) 1643523615
Utterback attended one of these meetings back in November at which students spoke in favor of not banning books containing the content.
He told the news outlet at the time he acknowledged the students' concerns but held firm in his conviction to support the book ban.
"You know, I definitely understand their struggles. It's not lost on me."
"Those conversations are to be had at home and only I have the intimate understanding of what is and isn't appropriate for my children."
The people who can only grab on to the sexual parts of a book and not the larger context in which the sex occurs are usually telling on themselves.— AngryWillow (@AngryWillow) 1643501279
Clearly someone who should be trusted to know what is best for the children and act accordingly...— Merrill Foster (@Merrill Foster) 1643524538
Utterback was seen at another school board meeting on October 26, 2021, as part of a presentation against the school keeping the bestselling LGBTQ+ graphic memoir, Fun Home: A Family Tragicomic by Alison Bechdel, in the school's library.
A video showed him at the public meeting with Northland Parent Association President James Richmond holding up two posterboard signs of pages from the book.
On Friday, Richmond recalled the presentation in front of the school board but distanced himself from Utterback and his allegations.
"Ryan was an attendee at the board meeting, I needed help holding a presentation and he helped," he told the news station.
"I can't comment on the alleged charges against him because I have no knowledge about them and they have nothing to do with me or the Northland Parent Association."
Utterback is scheduled to appear back in court on March 10.
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