A Riverton, Wyoming, man who has been running for a seat on his school board is facing five felony charges after police say he molested a young boy for more than year.
Hunter C. DeVries, 23, was charged Monday with five counts of first-degree sexual abuse of a minor, each punishable by between 25 and 50 years in prison.
DeVries launched his campaign for a seat on the Fremont County School District No. 25 Board on Aug. 15, with a Facebook post promising strong lines of communication between the public and the school district, support for the teaching staff and an emphasis on educational and recreational activities for a well-rounded education.
He dropped out of the race Friday by sending an email to the Fremont County Clerk's Office, the clerk's Chief Deputy Margy Irvine confirmed to Cowboy State Daily on Wednesday. It's too late to take his name off the ballot, but anyone voting after this point will receive a slip with their ballots announcing his withdrawal, she said.
The investigation into DeVries started Friday evening, according to an evidentiary affidavit by Riverton Police Officer Brandon Brookover.
Brookover was sent to a Riverton home that evening to speak with a 12-year-old boy reporting sexual abuse. The boy was very upset, and said he’d been raped, the affidavit says.
He met DeVries at a local youth organization two or three years prior, the boy added. The affidavit says DeVries later babysat the boy.
The document describes DeVries allegedly having the boy engage in various kinds of sex acts on multiple occasions from about August 2023 to a few weeks ago.
The boy told his family members about the incidents Friday, Brookover wrote in the affidavit.
An agent contacted DeVries via phone and asked him to come to the Riverton Police Department to speak with officers. DeVries arrived at about 10:06 p.m., says the document.
RPD Detective Bhagya Nethicumara took DeVries into the interview room; Brookover watched the interview from the recording room.
DeVries confirmed meeting the boy at a youth organization.
He admitted to engaging in sexual behavior with the boy, says the affidavit.
Nethicumara and Brookover had a follow-up interview with DeVries on Saturday at the Fremont County Detention Center in Lander, Wyoming.
DeVries admitted that starting in August 2023, he started performing sex acts on the boy, and repeated various sex acts on at least a dozen occasions, the document alleges. The boy would have been 11 then.
The Fremont County Public Defender's Office declined Wednesday to comment on the case.
Hunter DeVries (Facebook) 
(Cowboy State Daily Staff)
In The Schools
DeVries is a familiar face in Riverton’s schools system.
His Facebook page says he is or was most recently a commercial property manager at a local apartment complex. He was a substitute teacher at Willow Creek Elementary from April to May 2023. He worked as a paraprofessional at the same school from Aug. 20, 2020, through June 2021; and from April 14, 2022, through June 14, 2022.
He was a youth development professional at the Boys & Girls Club of Riverton from Aug. 16, 2021, through April 26, 2023.
Fremont County School District 25 Superintendent Jodi Ibach told Cowboy State Daily via a voicemail Wednesday that the district is not involved in the case or allegations.
Clair McFarland can be reached at clair@cowboystatedaily.com.
