A former athletic coach at a Lancaster middle school will serve probation and register as a sex offender for abuse of a boy.
Anthony D. Tyler was track and basketball coach at Reynolds Middle School when he repeatedly coerced a 13-year-old male student to be nude in Tyler’s presence.
Tyler, 30, pleaded guilty Thursday in Lancaster County Court to a misdemeanor count of invasion of privacy, according to Assistant District Attorney Christopher Sarno, who prosecuted.
Tyler will serve 2 years of probation and register his whereabouts with police, under Megan’s Law, for 15 years, in accordance with a plea agreement accepted by County Judge Margaret Miller.
Sarno said, although no physical contact is alleged, police caught Tyler early in the grooming of boys. There were believed to be other potential victims who weren’t able to go forward with prosecution.
“This boy was brave enough to do this,” Sarno said, after the plea. “He deserves a lot of credit, because he was harassed for coming forward – which was absolutely the right thing to do.
“We hope this plea will prevent Mr. Tyler from getting a job around children again.”
Tyler is prohibited from having unsupervised contact with children during the probation period, which was the maximum sentence for the 2nd-degree misdemeanor charge.
The conduct went on for the 2014-15 school year at Tyler’s city home.
Lancaster city police Detective Jimmy Mummau filed charges.
MEDIA CONTACT: Brett A. Hambright, 717-295-2041; bhambright@co.lancaster.pa.us; Twitter: @BrettHambright