DA Investigator Ryan Hill and Arcata PD arrest two for sex crimes involving a minor

Michael Conlee arrested yesterday by Arcata Police Department for PC 288 (a) lewd act with a minor. The DA has charged him felony. The alleged victim is a seven year old Jane Doe.

Conlee has 11 cases in Humboldt Superior Court but no criminal cases. Arraignment is scheduled for 4/10.  No other media in court. 

Ryan Edward Graves arrested by DA Investigator Ryan Hill yesterday on a Ramey warrant for PC 288.2(a)(2) sending or showing harmful material to seduce a minor and PC 288.3(a) contacting a minor to commit a felony. Graves is an employee of Cal Poly Humboldt. Bail is $65,000 and it is a cash only bail. Graves would have to pay the full bail amount to be released from custody. 

Graves has two traffic cases with one conviction and one acquittal and a family case that is open.

4/10: Arraignment is this afternoon.The DA's office filed a complaint today charging Graves with Count 1 PC 288.3 (a) and PC 288.2 (a) (2). 

No other media was in court on 4/10. Times Standard's Sage Alexander left before Graves case was called.

Bail was reduced to $35,000 with no hold. I am surprised Deputy District Attorney Carolyn Schaffer did not oppose that change. With bail reduced, Graves posted bond and is out of custody. Ms. Kathleen Bryson specially appeared for the law firm of Imhoff and Associates, a LA firm. Graves entered a 10 day time waiver. Ms. Bryson requested a two week continuance for pre trial and confirmation of counsel which was scheduled for 4/22; preliminary hearing is on 5/29.

Vincent Imhoff, the managing director of Imhoff & Associates, received the “Best Defense Attorney - 2025” award by the Best of Los Angeles Award community for his outstanding contributions to criminal defense law. This is a national law firm with over 650 attorneys specializing in criminal defense licensed to practice in Illinois, California and Pennsylvania.

This is a public court document. Knowing the Humboldt County DA's office, they know what is required by law and whether it is a Ramey warrant preliminary hearing or trial, what they include to prove their case, they handle with sensitivity. I am sure DA Investigator Ryan Hill left out more graphic cases. Having covered such cases for 11 years; I know the DA's office. Unlike the irresponsible FB group that plastered text messages all over social media mentioned further in this post.

Graves believed he was speaking with a 14 year old girl named "Ana" who was actually a male decoy.

I have the Ramey warrant which was signed by Judge Steven Steward and complaint. The Ramey warrant has details that the complaint does not and that information was initially available to advertisers, subscribers and donors first and exclusively. I have already discussed with the DA's office my intention to post the Ramey warrant. At 4:10 p.m. today, due to the interest in this case and for the public to see the hard work put in by the DA's office, I have added the Ramey warrant signed by Judge Steven Steward.

It takes a lot of time for me to get you "extras" like court minutes, court documents and live court coverage and you can thank my advertisers, subscribers, donors and commenters like "John" below who appreciate my work.

Since Justin Parfet has been identified in the Ramey warrant and has posted on social media, I am including that Justin has assisted the DA's office in this case.

Justin and I have spoken before. Just seeing him out in the community. I have never spoken to Justin before an arrest or charges being filed. Our conversations have been him thanking me for my blog or just updates as I would with any reader. Our first conversation was after the conclusion of Tatro's 2022 case. Justin has never discussed any details of his decoy operation or the cases with me and I have never asked. I prefer to report from court records and my own court coverage. Justin regularly posts on social media. I am not going to name the page but despite the Ninth Circuit ruling, that page posts suspect booking photos. That page also posts or provides texts of decoy exchanges right after Humboldt arrests of such cases to a "vigilante" type Facebook page. This kind of information is not even able to media unless unless it is in a court document or mentioned in court, usually at preliminary hearing or trial. Even bail bond companies are following the idiotic 9th Circuit ruling. 

On 4/10 Kym Kemp's site posted the name of the Facebook group. The post on that FB group was highly inflammatory. There is no evidence in the Ramey warrant or any information provided, so far that Graves' arrest had anything to do with him having access to alleged victims at work. Last evening, I was the first and only local media to run Cal Poly Chief Greg Allen's statement. Chief Allen's statement is carefully worded but it states Graves' charges are not related to work. This FB page and other wannabe local "vigilante" types are irresponsible and post whatever they like creating confusion. Then law enforcement and responsible media have to spend time putting correct information out there but the damage cannot be undone.

While law enforcement, bail bond companies and media are following the 9th Circuit ruling regarding booking photos, anonymous Facebook pages are doing whatever they like. If you are going to make claims; provide evidence; especially on social media where misinformation is rampant and spreads easily.

Thank you to this commenter on Kym's site.

Justin assisted the DA's office with convicted sex offender Darrel Tatro 2022 cas and other cases. Tatro has an arrest warrant out in a 2025 for failure to register.