SPOKANE, Wash. — Court documents reveal threats that a former Lewis and Clark student is accused of sending out to on Instagram over the last eight months.
Ryan Lee, 18, was arrested Sunday for two counts of felony harassment - threats to kill, a count of cyberstalking and violating a court order.
Court documents said Lee repeatedly sent pornographic and threatening posts to a 16-year-old girl on Instagram.
According to documents, it started on May 30, 2018 when the teenage girl reported receiving several pornographic images as well as threats that the user was going to shoot up Lewis and Clark High School and shoot the girl.
During the investigation, court documents said detectives learned the IP address for the user who sent the threat belonged to Lee’s parents.
Court documents said detectives contacted Lee’s mother and she agreed to have her son meet with police and the station. During the interview, Lee initially denied sending the threatening messages and pornographic images. Court documents said he later confessed and was booked into jail on two counts of harassment, threats to kill and communicating with a minor for immoral purposes.
On June 20, 2018, documents said Lee was served with a sexual assault protection order which prohibited Lee from having contact with the girl he threatened. The order is valid until June 15, 2019.
Then in November 2018, detectives served a search warrant on a tablet that was seized from Lee’s home back in June. Court documents said the tablet’s browsing history showed searches for the Parkland, Florida school shooting and the Santa Fe, Texas school shooting. They also found a search for serial killer John Wayne Gacy, ‘can the FBI track your phone’ and ‘can the FBI track Instagram accounts.’
On Nov. 30, 2018, the girl Lee was charged with threatening reported seeing another threatening post from a different Instagram account.
According to documents, the post said, “I’m sorry for what will happen at Lewis and Clark High School soon… Can’t wait to carry out what I said last school year of what was going to happen will be done this coming month of November…I am sorry for those who will not be there the next day…I still can't believe that I did not get caught yet after all these months that some dumb*** Asian or Mexican took the blame of my doings…who cares if that innocent person gets charged of my doings or the people who won’t be there the next day for school I don’t care (name redacted) of course whose known as a slut will be the first victim to go so will (named redacted) and then I’ll follow my list.”
On Nov. 4, 2018, court documents said detectives contacted Lee’s parents to investigate the latest threat. Again, court documents said Lee denied making the threats and adamantly denied accessing any computers, cell phones or any other electronics. He also denied having access to social media accounts.
Documents said Lee’s parents believed their son hadn’t sent any of the Instagram posts. They also believed he was being set up by someone else.
For the Nov. threat, documents said detectives were unable to identify the IP address from where the post was sent.
Court documents said on Jan. 21, Lee’s original Instagram account had been reactivated and sent out a post saying, “No words can describe the public humiliation and trauma I have been put through for the heinous acts of which I was falsely accused of doing.”
Then on Jan. 27, the teenage girl reported another threat to police. Documents said she received several pornographic images and several threatening messages that were similar to previous messages she received in May and Nov. of 2018.
According to documents, the threat said, “Shooting up a high school at Lewis and Clark is a dream come true.”
A post published on Jan. 27 showed a photograph of the two teenage girls who had been threatened before with a red circle and an “X” over them, according to documents. The post read, “Put a bullet between their heads.”
Documents said another post showed a picture of the front door to Lewis and Clark High School that read, “Shooting up that Lewis and Clark High School pretty soon.”
Another post showed a picture of a hand gun with a box of ammunition that read, “Practice makes perfect,” according to documents. Detectives said another post they found showed a picture of an assault rifle lying on an American flag with the statement, “Shooting up a high school would be the highlight.”
According to court documents, detectives believe the context and references made in the most recent posts were similar to the ones found in May and Nov.
On Tuesday, documents said detectives learned the IP address from where the most recent posts were sent were again linked back to Lee’s home. On Wednesday, court documents said detectives served a search warrant at the Lee’s home and seized an Xbox, two iPhones, four iPads, three Apple computers, an Apple Macbook Pro, a Microsoft laptop, seven thumb drives and a Xfinity router.
Prosecutors said this isn't the first time he has violated his terms of release.
"Mr. Lee has now violated his release conditions on multiple occasions. Not only that, this is akin to the very behavior he was first charged with," the prosecutor said in court Thursday.
Lee’s bond was set at $1 million on Thursday afternoon. An advocate for the victims asked to judge to raise the bond.
"These threats and images are terrifying to them. This has been an ongoing process. They have had very little peace of mind. And not only has it been impacting the individuals that were mentioned in the threats but its affecting an entire school," said victim advocate Bridget Eismann.
Lee's defense attorney argued there was not enough evidence to hold him on these charges.
"Nowhere in this affidavit , no where in the prior affidavit are they able to produce a device, any device, that suggests Mr. Lee is the person or party that did that," Lee's attorney said.
His bond can be cash or charity, and the judge said he made the decision based on Lee's prior charges, according to KREM reporter Alexa Block. The judge also ordered Lee to stay away from areas where children under 18 are present and he cannot use social media.