Former NKY cop who worked in school gets probation for sexting minor in undercover sting
A former Augusta, Kentucky, police officer was sentenced on Wednesday to probation for initiating sexually explicit conversations online with someone he believed to be a 15-year-old girl. He was actually talking to an undercover investigator.
Ryan Hill, 30, was sentenced to four years in prison probated for four years. The sentence, handed down by Boone County Circuit Court Judge Richard Brueggemann, follows a recommendation by the commonwealth's attorney's office.
Hill must also complete a community-based sex offender treatment program and pay a $1,000 fine.
In March 2022, Hill was indicted on one count of prohibited use of electronic communications to procure a minor for sexual activity, court records show. He pleaded guilty on Feb. 9 to an amended charge of unlawful transaction with a minor, according to the documents.
In a criminal complaint, a Boone County Sheriff's Office detective said Hill, via the social media platform Whisper, described in detail sexual acts he wanted to perform on the young girl.
He asked for nude photographs, though he was told the girl was a sophomore in high school, according to the complaint.
"Hill also made the statement that the female was nearly half his age," the complaint states, adding he even admitted during a conversation that he was a police officer.
Hill was actually chatting with an undercover task force officer from Minnesota, the sheriff's office said, adding authorities in Minnesota alerted detectives in Boone County to Hill's online activity. Hill was living in Hebron at the time.
The conversations occurred between Dec. 24, 2021, and Dec. 27, 2021.
At the time, Hill was an officer with the Augusta Police Department. He was one of three Augusta officers assigned to Augusta Independent Schools. He began his assignment at the district in August 2021.
He was fired on the same day as his arrest in January 2022.
Since he'd only been with the department less than a year, Hill was in a probationary period as detailed in his contract, meaning he could be fired "without cause or recourse," his termination letter reads.
Hill's personnel file shows that he worked as a Kenton County police officer from 2016 to 2020. Before that, Hill was a dispatcher for Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International Airport police.
Hill and his lawyer, Jeff Fichner, did not make a statement about the case in court on Wednesday. Fichner has yet to respond to an email and phone call from The Enquirer requesting comment.
This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: Undercover sexting sting leads to probation for former NKY cop
