80-year-old ENT doctor arrested, charged with first-degree sexual abuse
The Shelby County Sheriff’s Office has charged 80-year-old Dr. Ruepert Don Bryan of Calera with three counts of manufacturing obscene matter and one count of first-degree sexual abuse. Total bond for the charges is $500,000.
“This is, we feel like, the tip of the iceberg in this investigation,” Sheriff John Samaniego said in a press conference on Friday.
The Sheriff’s Office was first made aware of the alleged crimes on Thursday, June 2, released photos of Bryan that afternoon and received information which helped identify Bryan later that day. He was arrested before midnight, Samaniego said.
“I have to thank the investigators, the relentless nature of going after this. I mean, we’re talking about yesterday afternoon, and we had him arrested before midnight last night,” he said.
An individual found video evidence of the alleged crime, which Samaniego said he could not provide specifics on, and the photos provided to the public and media on Thursday were pulled from that video evidence.
“The investigation started yesterday afternoon when a citizen notified the Sheriff’s Office they discovered a piece of what turned out to be very important evidence that was left behind and abandoned,” he said. “We started our investigation from there. With the assistance of the media and other social media outlets, we were able to identify the individual and actually came up wit ha couple of witnesses that positively ID’d him.”
At this time, Samaniego said a few victims have been identified, and all of those victims were underage.
“In my 40-year career, I’ve seen a lot of crime. This one shocked my conscience,” Samaniego said. “It really did, the evidence that’s in this case. It’s a very serious case, and I’d like to send a message out to any victims of Dr. Bryan to please come forward and allow us to interview you just so we can try to find out and put an end to this situation.”
Bryan has an ENT (Ears Nose Throat) medical practice in Alabaster. Samaniego said it is unknown how many alleged victims there were or if any crimes were committed at his practice. The Sheriff’s Office knows the location of one of the incidents took place based on the video evidence which was found, but Samaniego said that information cannot be disclosed at this time.
“We know it was definitely a local video because of the things that were in there, but I really can’t go into that right now,” he said.
Samaniego said they have not determined how long Bryan’s alleged crimes have taken place, but they hope to determine that in the future. He added that it is unknown if Bryan obtained access to his alleged victims through his medical practice, but the Sheriff’s Office is looking into that possibility.
“The behavior that was in the evidence is shocking, and somebody that’s a physician is obviously a very intelligent individual who worked very hard to obtain that degree, and then to practice successfully as long as he has, it was overwhelming,” Samaniego said.
Samaniego said he anticipates more charges to arise as the investigation continues, and he encourages any other victims to come forward.
“We’re hoping to keep this individual in jail until we can complete the investigation,” he said.
Anyone with additional information can contact the Sheriff's Office at 669-4181, call the secret witness line at 669-9116 or report online at shelbyso.com by clicking "Report Criminal Activity."