Maple Grove daycare teacher facing more charges of inappropriately touching children

MAPLE GROVE, Minn. (FOX 9) - A 38-year-old Bethel man who was a teacher at a Maple Grove daycare and is accused of touching a 9-year-old girl inappropriately is facing more charges, authorities say.

Ryan Thomas Vaughan has been charged with two counts of first-degree criminal sexual conduct as he’s accused of sexually assaulting a 7-year-old girl during the summer of 2024, according to court documents.

Sexual assault allegations

The backstory:

According to a criminal complaint, one of the girl’s parents went to the police on Oct. 19, 2024, and reported their daughter had been sexually assaulted by a teacher at her daycare, which is located in Maple Grove. The girl attended the daycare center during the summer of 2024 and told one of her parents that Vaughan had touched her. 

The complaint states the girl told authorities that "Mr. Ryan" was a bad man who would ask her friends to sit on his lap and inappropriately touch them. She didn’t disclose any abuse happening to her, but would use the word "our" when talking about what he would allegedly do to her friends.

The complaint states the girl told her therapist the alleged assault happened on multiple occasions, and he told her it was a secret. The girl told her therapist she was scared when she went to the "yellow house" for questioning. The cornerhouse is inside a yellow, single family-style home.

The complaint states the girl went to a doctor back in March and explained that "Mr. Ryan" worked at the daycare center, and she said she didn’t like him anymore. She reported he would touch her "pretty much every day" and that it made her feel scared. He reportedly told her it was a secret, and she felt bad about breaking her promise by talking about it.

August 2024 incident

What we know:

Vaughan was charged on Oct. 17, 2024, for a similar incident last August involving a 9-year-old girl.

According to the charges, police responded on Aug. 12 to a report that a child was touched inappropriately by a teacher at her school in Maple Grove.

Officers then spoke to the parents of the child, who said they noticed the child's behavior was "off" for the past several weeks and that she was "displaying higher anxiety levels," the criminal complaint read.

Police then spoke to the child, who detailed to officers how one of her teachers had touched her inappropriately. 

The complaint also alleges the girl said Vaughan told her not to tell anyone. She also said she told him several times to stop, but he wouldn't listen. The girl added this happened "multiple times over the course of the last week," the complaint alleges.