Motocross Business Owner Arrested on Child Rape Charges May Have Victims in 10 States

The owner of a motocross business was arrested and charged last month in Tennessee with counts including child rape and aggravated kidnapping.

A prosecutor said Monday that Ryan Andrew Meyung, 30, may have victims in 10 states total.

Hamilton County District Attorney Neal Pinkston's office said in a statement on Monday that local law enforcement looking into the case partnered with Homeland Security investigators for a larger investigation. Now, all the agencies believe that Meyung could have additional victims in Tennessee, as well as in Georgia, Indiana, Kentucky, Michigan, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Oklahoma and Pennsylvania.

Pinkston said that after local media in Chattanooga published a story on Meyung's arrest last month, case investigators started to hear from individuals from other states regarding other potential criminal law violations involving him and other children.

"Investigations are beginning in these other states," Pinkston said in the statement.

Meyung's work before his arrest was heavily linked to children and travel. He ran a business based out of Indiana called Live Your Dreams MX, which focused on building motocross tracks in the U.S. and other countries and instructing children on how to motocross, a type of off-road motorcycle racing.

He also worked at various points over the past two years as a driver for a company in Tennessee's Hamilton County "delivering products to various places throughout the U.S.," Pinkston said.

"Meyung has no known permanent address. He has resided with local families in areas where he builds motocross tracks and performs motocross camps for children or lives out of a bus he co-owned with another unnamed individual," the statement said.

Pinkston urged anyone with information on Meyung, or anyone whose child may have been one of his alleged victims, to call the Homeland Security Investigations tipline of (866) 347-2423 or contact them online.

Child Rape Suspect
The owner of a motocross business was arrested and charged last month in Tennessee with counts including child rape and aggravated kidnapping. A prosecutor said Monday that Ryan Andrew Meyung, 30, may have victims in... Ina Fassbender/Getty Images

WTVC-TV reported the Tennessee charges involve three children. An affidavit says two children accused Meyung of locking them inside a bus and sexually assaulting one of them, according to the station.

Another child told his father he had engaged in inappropriate behavior with Meyung, who was a family friend, WTVC-TV reported.

Meyung remains jailed in Hamilton County in southeastern Tennessee. It wasn't immediately clear whether he has an attorney.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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