Grand jury indicts Nome man on rape, assault charges

By Diana Haecker
A grand jury indicted Ryan Okleasik, 31, of Nome on 21 counts, including sexual assault in the first degree, several counts of assault in the first, second and third degree, and coercion.
Okleasik was arraigned last week and entered a not guilty plea.
Okleasik was arrested on April 30 by Nome Police Investigator William Crockett after an investigation that began in March with a report of sexual and physical abuse.
All charges are domestic related and involve one victim.
According to court documents, NPD began investigating after the victim reported physical and sexual assaults by her boyfriend on March 20. A Sexual Assault Nurse Examiner confirmed the extend of the injuries including three broken ribs, severe bodily injury and bruising consistent with strangulation, and injuries to the private parts The victim said she had been assaulted so many times, she cannot recount the number. According to a police affidavit, the victims stated that the defendant, her boyfriend, had begun to repeatedly physically and sexually assaulting her starting in February 2022, driven by extreme jealousy.
In a prior documented incident, the victim sought refuge from the alleged abuser behind the counter of the Quickstop store, but did not want to pursue criminal charges, despite the fact that she was covered in bruises and was in a state of extremely emotionally distress. The victim went on March 3 to a SANE nurse, telling her that she had been strangled to the point of losing consciousness and the nurse documented the injuries that showed “extreme bruising throughout the body” and the bruises were large, deep and present on the face, neck, throat, back, legs, torso, arms and head.
On April 29, the victim called NPD and reported that she had again been physically and sexually assaulted. The following day, Crockett arrested Ryan Okleasik. During the interview, court papers say, the defendant admitted to the repeated physical assaults, but denied the sexual assaults. According to the court documents, Okleasik said he was extremely jealous and his assaults an attempt to prevent her from leaving him.
An omnibus hearing in the case is set for June 7, at the Nome Courthouse at 9 a.m.