Florida High School Teacher And Football Coach Charged For Lewd Conduct With Female Students

A high school teacher and football coach in Florida is facing charges for alleged inappropriate conduct with female students, authorities said.

The Polk County Sheriff’s Office on Thursday announced that Tyler Eden, a 31-year-old teacher and head football coach at Bartow High School, was arrested on charges of lewd offense against a student by an authority figure, lewd and lascivious touching of a minor, both felonies, and voyeurism, a misdemeanor.

The investigation began on April 2 when a parent reported Eden had inappropriate conversations with their daughter while she performed community service hours under his direction.

Detectives learned Eden allegedly asked if the student wanted to earn community service hours by performing athletic chores, and she agreed. While sorting football helmets in the locker room, Eden allegedly talked to the female student about a teacher he claimed wanted to have sex with him in the locker room. When the student said she did not want to talk about that, Eden allegedly continued talking about how he wanted to have sex with the teacher even though he was married.

The next day, while again performing community service, the student was breaking down boxes when one got caught on her hoodie and broke the zipper. She was wearing the hoodie as a top, with only her bra underneath, and asked Eden if she could put on a T-shirt.

Instead, Eden allegedly unzipped the girl’s jacket the rest of the way and repeatedly tried to fix the jacket despite the student telling him she was uncomfortable. He eventually gave the student a T-shirt. She went into another area of the locker room to change privately, but when she turned around, he was allegedly standing right behind her, watching.

Eden allegedly complimented her bra and told her “repeatedly” that there were no cameras in the locker room. When the girl again told Eden she was uncomfortable, he allegedly asked her not to report the incident.

She did report the incident, and when school administrators moved to place him on administrative leave, Eden allegedly told them he only tried to fix the student’s zipper at her request.

“Not only is this highly inappropriate behavior by a teacher, imagine just how frightened this student was. Here was a male teacher who was already discussing lewd behavior, unzipping her clothes, then following her into a locker room where he remarked there are no cameras, and complimenting her undergarments,” Sheriff Grady Judd said in a statement. “This guy is a total creep, and now he’s going to jail. We are not going to tolerate school teachers and coaches preying on our children.”

During the investigation, detectives learned of complaints from two other female students. One reported that Eden also told her there were no cameras in the locker rooms and said it would be “easy to do certain things in there.” He also allegedly stated that another teacher wanted to have sex with him in the locker room. The other student told investigators that Eden asked her what she wanted to pursue after graduation, and she responded that she would go to college to become an obstetrician/gynecologist. Eden allegedly told the student he would make a good Ob/Gyn because he likes to perform oral sex on women. He asked the student if she wanted to earn community service hours, but she declined.

“Its unconscionable that an educator and coach would engage in this kind of behavior with students,” said Polk County Public Schools Superintendent Fred Heid. “This individual has shown that he cannot be trusted, and deserves to face justice for his actions. We commend the Polk County Sheriffs Office for their thorough investigation, and for taking action to protect students.”