Bryon Noem's Scandalous Online Life Takes A Messy Turn With Family-Bashing Messages

The scandals continue to pile up for Kristi Noem and her husband as the Daily Mail has obtained text messages and audio of Bryon Noem and online dominatrix Shy Sotomayor, who went by the name Raelynn Riley. While Kristi Noem had been dealing with pesky cheating rumors for years, it all came to a boil in March when she was called before the Senate Judiciary Committee and directly asked about the allegations concerning her relationship with Corey Lewandowski. Adding to the tension, Noem's husband had a front row seat for the grilling and watched as his wife refused to give a direct yes or no response to the question. Shortly after the hearing, Donald Trump fired Noem, but the former Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security hasn't had a chance to step out of the spotlight and lick her wounds, thanks to the revelations about her husband's escapades.

Just before the end of March, a bombshell report about Bryon Noem revealed that, while his wife was traveling the country with Lewandowski, he was spending tens of thousands of dollars to talk to women online while dressing up in booty shorts and placing huge inflated balloons under his tight shirt to create the look of shockingly large breasts. Now, one of the women Bryon spent time with online has given the world more insight into what he was doing and his true feelings about his wife, releasing texts in which he reportedly encourages Sotomayor to speak ill of Kristi and claims he wants to get away from her, telling Sotomayor, "I can see us leaving our spouses for each other." Along with telling Shy Sotomayor that he wanted to leave his wife, Bryon Noem reportedly discussed his innermost desires with his online paramour for pay.

Bryon first contacted Sotomayor on X in 2016. They soon took their conversation to another app where Bryon allegedly paid $15 a minute to talk to and watch Sotomayor perform. According to Sotomayor, Bryon liked to be dominated, explaining to the Daily Mail: "I don't embrace the airhead, ditzy personality that a lot of bimbos do. I expect to be worshipped, not degraded." Bryon suddenly stopped talking to Sotomayor in 2020 after Kristi Noem was elected governor of South Dakota, but reached out to her again in October 2025, around the same time it was first reported that Kristi used DHS funds to purchase two wildly expensive private jets. The jet, which included a bedroom with a queen-sized bed, would push the Lewandowski affair rumors into the spotlight, leading to the Senate hearing that kicked everything off. 

Returning to Sotomayor after five years away, Bryon opened up, reportedly telling her that he wore women's underwear when he went to work and that he dreamed of having gender-affirming surgery and changing his name to Crystal, telling Sotomayor, "I want to be a woman so bad." Bryon reportedly called Sotomayor multiple times a week, spending more and more time talking to her. According to Sotomayor, he spent around $7,600 on her in November 2025 alone. 

After the killings of Renee Good and Alex Pretti, Bryon's attitude toward Kristi shifted, and he reportedly began to defend his wife, telling Sotomayor, "She's a good person." The two continued to talk through the Senate hearings and after Kristi was fired, ending on March 22 when Sotomayor cut off contact. She explained to the Daily Mail: "I've had moments when I'm wondering how did this become my life. I just never thought I would be the mistress to ICE."