Former ‘high-ranking’ Alabama National Guardsman arrested on child sex abuse charges

A former “high-ranking” Alabama National Guardsman was arrested for allegedly sexually abusing a child under 12 years old, records showed.

Ryan Gericke, 43, of Ozark, was booked into the Dale County jail on Friday and released on Sunday, according to Dale County Sheriff’s Office records.

The case was not yet in online state court records.

Dale County Sheriff Mason Bynum told WDHN in Dothan said the alleged victim notified authorities last week and that the allegations are five years old.

Gericke was convicted in 2015 of electronic solicitation of a child in Houston County, court records showed. He was sentenced to five years’ probation and his three-year prison term was suspended.

When Gericke was charged with traveling to meet a child for sex in 2012, his attorney argued for his bond to be reduced because he was “married and is a high-ranking officer of the Alabama National Guard,” court records showed.