SLO County sheriff: Ex-Morro Bay teacher won’t get home detention after ‘further review’
A day after The Tribune reported that an ex-Morro Bay High School teacher convicted of sex crimes wouldn’t serve any jail time, the San Luis Obispo County Sheriff’s Office announced it has reversed its earlier grant of home detention after “further review.”
A San Luis Obispo Superior Court judge on Wednesday granted a probation modification request by Tyler Dale Andree, a former teacher and swim coach who was sentenced to 120 days in jail after pleading no contest to felony charges of having sex with a minor and contacting a minor for a sexual offense.
The Sheriff’s Office confirmed in a news release Thursday that Andree applied for the Sheriff’s Office’s home detention program and was denied in July.
But Andree appealed and, “based on a lack of previous crimes and a probation report,” he was accepted into the program, the release said.
The home detention program is open to defendants sentenced to 20 days or more in San Luis Obispo County Jail who are also deemed nonviolent and low-risk.
After Superior Court Judge Jacquelyn Duffy accepted Andree’s probation modification request based on the Sheriff’s Office’s recommendation for home detention, Andree was expected to coordinate a date to surrender to home detention with the Sheriff’s Office.
But on Thursday, a day after the Tribune broke the news about Andree’s home sentence, the Sheriff’s Office announced that “a further review was initiated based on it being a sex crime.”
“The subsequent review resulted in Andree’s home detention being denied,” the agency said in its release. “Andree will now serve his court sentence in County Jail.”
The Sheriff’s Office said in the release that it takes crimes against children and sex crimes seriously, and the decision to deny the appeal “is in line with similar decisions in similar cases.”
The agency “evaluates all home detention cases on a case-by-case basis but generally crimes against children, sex crimes or violent crimes do not qualify for home detention in order to ensure public safety,” according to the release.
Sheriff’s Office spokesman Tony Cipolla could not be reached for comment Thursday afternoon.
Adrienne Haddad, Andree’s attorney, declined comment.
Andree, 25, entered into a plea agreement with prosecutors in July, pleading no contest to felony charges of unlawful intercourse with a minor and contacting a minor for a sexual offense, in exchange for the dismissal of other charges.
At the time, the San Luis Obispo County District Attorney’s Office said the agreement was appropriate due to a lack of evidence.
Had he been convicted of all original charges, Andree faced a maximum sentence of four years and eight months in state prison.
He was instead sentenced to two years of supervised probation, 120 days in County Jail and is required to register as a sex offender for 20 years.
According to the California Commission on Teacher Credentialing’s online database, Andree’s credential was revoked for misconduct on Tuesday.
One of Andree’s two victims — who was 16 years-old when Andree began sending sexually explicit messages to her — has filed a lawsuit against Andree and the San Luis Coastal Unified School District alleging they were negligent in allowing Andree to groom her for sexual abuse.
The district filed a denial of the complaint, saying the teen contributed to any damages she may have suffered. The case is going to court in December.
The Sheriff’s Office did not say when Andree is scheduled to begin his jail sentence.
This story was originally published September 30, 2021 at 5:58 PM.
