LOGAN — A 29-year-old former Logan man is headed to prison for downloading child pornography over 10 years ago. Tyler Roat has continued to violate his probation and refuse to comply with his sex-offender registration, law enforcement reported.
According to court records, North Park Police officers began investigating Roat in 2013. Officials with the Cache County School District had tracked him using a laptop to view child pornography.
Police seized the laptop and found multiple images of children under the age of 18 and some very young. All of the pictures were of children engaged in various sexually explicit acts with adult men.
Roat moved to Cedar City, where police later located and questioned him.
In January 2015, Roat accepted a plea deal in Logan’s 1st District Court. He pleaded guilty to two counts of sexual exploitation of a minor, amended to a third-degree felony. As part of the plea, prosecutors dismissed three similar charges.
Roat was later sentenced to 180 days in jail instead of prison. He was also placed on probation for three years and ordered to complete sex offender therapy.
During the past eight years Roat continuously violated his probation and refused to complete therapy, according to probation agents. He also wouldn’t keep his sex offender registration updated with his current residence.
After numerous violations, a warrant was issued for Roat’s arrest earlier this year. On April 14, he was booked again into the Cache County Jail.
Roat appeared Monday, May 14, in Logan’s 1st District Court. He claimed that he hadn’t previously had the money to complete therapy until now.
Judge Spencer Walsh told Roat that he had been given plenty of chances. He imposed the original sentence of zero to five years at the Utah State Correctional Facility.