By Shereen Siewert
WAUSAU — A Marshfield man who received a deferred sentence on charges of child sexual assault is headed back to prison after police discovered sexually explicit photos and videos of a minor on his phone.
Tylyn Hoover, 27, was sentenced last week in Marathon County Circuit Court to three years in prison for possessing child pornography — images of the teen girl he sexually assaulted in the 2014 case. He was also sentenced to an additional three years in prison for the previously deferred charge.
The May 2018 charges resulted in new penalties from the 2014 assault case because Hoover entered into a plea deal that would keep him out of prison if he stayed out of trouble and successfully completed probation over a four-year period. Had Hoover been successful in probation, the sexual assault charge would have been dismissed in 2021.
Police began their investigation into new charges in May 2018 after Hoover’s Taylor County probation officer alerted police Hoover likely had child pornography images stored on his phone. Prosecutors say police subsequently discovered 16 sexually exploit photos and one video of a girl he was convicted of assaulting. Those assaults happened in December 2014, when the girl was 14 years old.
Police say the images were screenshots taken from SnapChat conversations with the girl. The images were then encrypted and stored in a hidden app on Hoover’s phone that appears to the casual observer to be a calculator app. But instead of a calculator, the app is really a photo and video vault that is protected by a unique password.
Hoover also admitted to sending photos of his genitalia to the girl through SnapChat, according to police.
As part of the now-dissolved plea agreement, Hoover was ordered not to have any contact with the girl. Police believe the new communications with the teen victim happened in August 2017, the same month Hoover was given the deferred sentencing agreement and when the girl was 16.
Circuit Judge LaMont Jacobson also ordered Hoover to spend eight years on extended supervision following his release from prison. Hoover will also be required to register as a sex offender for the remainder of his life.
