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Western Slope man set to plead guilty in underage sex case

Jason Auslander/Aspen Times

PITKIN COUNTY — The man who traveled to Missouri in May allegedly to have sex with a 7-year-old girl is scheduled to plead guilty to charges related to the case next month, according to online federal court records.

Ryan Mausner, 42, of Carbondale, was charged with one count of online enticement of a minor and one count of travel with intent to engage in illicit sexual contact. He pleaded not guilty to the charges in June.

Since then, however, court records indicate no movement in his case.

Until about a week ago, that is, when an order appeared scheduling a “change of plea” hearing for Feb. 7 in U.S. District Court in Kansas City. The order doesn’t state exactly what charge or charges Mausner might plead guilty to.

Mausner’s lawyer, Dee Wampler of Springfield, Missouri, did not return a message earlier this week seeking more information about the hearing. A spokesman for the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Western Missouri declined to comment until after the hearing.

Ryan Mausner

Mausner — a former Aspen area event coordinator — allegedly engaged in months of online correspondence and text messages with an FBI online covert employee posing as a single mother of a 5-year-old boy and a 7-year-old girl. The relationship lasted from Jan. 31, 2018, through May 25.

During that time, Mausner allegedly asked what type of sexual activity the 7-year-old had engaged in with others and described what he wanted sexually from the girl, according to federal court documents.

Mausner flew from Denver to Kansas City on May 25, allegedly to have sex with the girl, and was arrested by FBI agents. He’s been held in detention in the Kansas City area since.

Wampler, Mausner’s lawyer, said in a June court hearing he believed alcohol played “an important role” in his client’s actions, which began after Mausner separated from his wife and child. Wampler also said Mausner told him he was interested in a relationship with an adult woman and that the child was only mentioned.

Mausner and his wife are in the process of obtaining a divorce in Pitkin County District Court, according to court dockets. A final divorce decree has not yet been issued in the case, according to court records. Besides final decrees, court records involving divorce are not public in Colorado.


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