Boise clinic owner, former Legislature candidate sentenced for child sex crime
The owner of a Boise mental health clinic and former Republican legislative candidate pleaded guilty to abusing a 12-year-old girl. Now, he’ll spend years in prison.
Meridian resident Ryan Jenks, 46, pleaded guilty in September to one felony count of lewd conduct with a child under the age of 16.
An additional lewd conduct charge, as well as two counts of child sex abuse, were dropped through a plea agreement. Jenks said in court Thursday that he remembered touching the victim a decade ago on three occasions, while she maintained it was four times.
Fourth District Judge Lynn Norton sentenced Jenks to 20 years in prison with the possibility of parole after three years. She also said he must pay the victim a $5,000 civil penalty and have no contact with her for 20 years.
Emotions ran high throughout the one-hour sentencing, with Jenks and the victim speaking through tears.
The victim, who is now an adult woman, described the impact Jenks’ crime has had on her life. She said his actions took a significant toll on her mental health, and ever since, she has found physical touch difficult.
“I spent most of my teenage years just watching people hug their friends, watching kids hold their parents’ hands, watching couples kiss and place a hand on the other’s back,” she said in court as Jenks stared down at the table in front of him. “I watched because I couldn’t feel safe doing it myself, even though I desperately wanted to. I would get nauseous and shake every time I tried.”
She said when she confronted Jenks last year about what he did to her as a child, he told her he had been trying to make her “feel loved” at the time and blamed her for waiting so long to talk about it.
“I confronted you, and you tried to twist it into being my fault that we hadn’t discussed and worked through it sooner,” she said.
Defense attorney Michael Bartlett attributed Jenks’ behavior partly to working too many hours, suffering a mental health crisis and an abusive childhood.
“I want her to know that I am sorry, I have been sorry, and wished that I could take it back every day,” Jenks said.
Norton told Jenks that this wasn’t something he could “apologize or talk your way out of.”
“She’s going to continue to have this instance reverberate throughout the rest of her life,” Norton said. “Now that she’s growing into an adult and considering future relationships … it’ll come back in a different way.”
Jenks owns local mental health business
Over the years, Jenks has sought leadership positions in the Treasure Valley in both politics and business.
Jenks ran as a Republican candidate for the Idaho House of Representatives in 2014 but lost with 36% of the vote to the incumbent Democrat.
Idaho Secretary of State records show that Jenks is the owner and CEO of Brighter Future Health, a mental health clinic that provides counseling and other types of care to children, teens and adults in the Treasure Valley.
He was also a licensed attorney until recently. The Idaho State Bar Association said Jenks chose to resign his law license in 2025 in lieu of disciplinary proceedings that could have come as a result of his criminal charges.
