Ryan Rovito was allegedly found with “several hundred” child sex abuse images in 2018 — but authorities have never prosecuted the case because of an alleged computer glitch.
A California father who was arrested last week after authorities allegedly discovered more than 900 images of child sex abuse was also accused in 2018 of having “several hundred” similar images — but he has evaded prosecution because of an alleged computer glitch, a law enforcement official told NBC News.
Ryan Rovito, 34, of Redding, is accused of felony possession of child pornography and surreptitious recording after his wife turned over to police a camera she found hidden in the couple’s guest bathroom and a hard drive.
But in 2018, his previous wife also went to authorities and reported that he had photos of “prepubescent juveniles” on his computer, said Sgt. Rob Garnero, a spokesperson for the Redding Police Department.
That case got lost in a then-new software system and didn’t make it to the Shasta County District Attorney’s Office until November 2022, a spokesperson for the DA’s office said.
The software “had some errors when it launched,” Garnero said, adding that the department’s records division made a note in its internal software in December 2022 that the previous case had been lost.
When police filed the current case against Rovito, they found the earlier one — “and that’s when we discovered that case had never been completely discovered when routed,” Garnero said.
Ryan Rovito did not respond to multiple attempts for comment, but his lawyer, Timothy Prentiss, said Rovito maintains his innocence.
“From his perspective, he’s ready to challenge these allegations and we’d prefer to do that in the legal system,” Prentiss said.
The lawyer said he was not familiar with the 2018 allegations.
Statute of limitations
Police said that there was a three-year statute of limitations on the 2018 case, which had expired by the time the glitch had been discovered. But the Shasta County DA’s office said Thursday that the falls under a 10-year limit.
“We’re going to have to do some further investigation to review the case before we make any filing decisions,” a spokesperson for the DA said.
Rovito’s ex-wife who made the 2018 report could not be reached by phone or email Thursday. Court records show she filed for divorce in April 2019.
His current wife, Victoria Rovito, says that if officials had prosecuted him in 2018, her family’s life may never have been “flipped upside down and shattered.”
“I understand that mistakes happen, but these things cannot fall through the cracks,” Victoria Rovito, 33, told NBC News in an exclusive interview this week. “It could’ve been somebody’s life, it could’ve been multiple peoples’ lives.”
She said that she didn’t know about the previous allegations until police told her this month and that she has since shared them with the National Guard, where she says Rovito has served.
A spokesperson for the National Guard directed questions to a spokesperson for the California National Guard, who did not immediately respond to questions Thursday.
‘This situation did not seem fathomable’
When Victoria and Ryan Rovito met in 2021, he seemed like the ideal partner: He got along well with her now-3-year-old son and “would literally do anything for me,” she said. They married less than a year later, she said, tying the knot in February 2022 and welcomed a daughter seven months ago.
“It just seemed picture perfect,” she said.
So when she found a camera hidden in the guest bathroom of their Redding home, about 160 miles north of Sacramento, and was later told by authorities that he allegedly had hundreds of child sex abuse images on his hard drive, she was in “absolute shock.”
“This situation did not seem fathomable to me prior to this,” she said.
The Redding Police Department said that when Victoria Rovito initially found the camera and confronted her husband, Ryan Rovito “vowed to remove and discard it.”
She discovered he had not thrown it away as promised, and on March 8, she gave police the camera and hard drive, “fearing Mr. Rovito had nefariously recorded their young children using the bathroom,” the police department has said.
Authorities said they performed a forensic analysis on the devices and found hundreds of sex abuse photos and multiple videos. But Garnero said Wednesday that the police department is still reviewing devices from Ryan Rovito’s residence.
Police previously said videos obtained from the camera “showed children and adults using the bathroom who did not appear to know they were being recorded.”
Rovito was taken into custody on March 16, during a traffic stop, on charges related to the felony possession of child pornography and the surreptitious recording of an identifiable person who was undressed.
He posted $25,000 bail the day he was arrested, according to Garnero.
If convicted, Rovito could face between 16 months and eight years in prison, according to Garnero, who added that he could also instead be sentenced to probation and be required to register as a sex offender for life instead of facing prison time.
Rovito could also face up to a year in county jail on the surreptitious recording charge, which is a misdemeanor under California law, according to Garnero. But he added that “that scenario is unlikely as Rovito does not have a criminal history.”
He is due in court April 21, Garnero said.
‘We have to protect our children’
Victoria Rovito requested, and was granted, a temporary restraining order against her husband the day after his arrest, court documents show.
She is focused on rebuilding her family’s future: “I feel like our lives have been torn apart,” she said.
A GoFundMe set up by a friend says that money raised will go toward living expenses and legal fees: “By doing what was right she ultimately is left with a lot of needs,” it says.
In the meantime, Rovito hopes that by sharing her story, she can show others how to protect their children in instances of child sex abuse.
“Once I realized what was going on, I didn’t want it to happen to anyone else, and that was my driving factor,” she said.
Young victims
About 25% of girls and 1 in 13 boys in the U.S. experience sexual abuse, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. In more than 90% of those cases, the perpetrators are known and trusted by the child and their family, according to the CDC.
“That could be a family member, extended family, a coach or doctor — someone who doesn’t raise any flags to be in proximity to the child,” said Scott Berkowitz, president and founder of the Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network, an anti-sexual violence organization.
Berkowitz said it’s crucial to teach kids to alert a trusted adult if they experience sex abuse. Adults should take a “safety first” approach by removing the child from proximity to the perpetrator, paying attention to their psychological needs and alerting relevant authorities if that’s an option, Berkowitz said.
Victoria Rovito agrees: “We have to protect our children, they can’t protect themselves,” she said.