Wyoming
54-Year-Old Wyoming Man Confesses To Molesting Boy 40 Years Ago
A 54-year-old Wheatland, Wyoming, man accused of molesting a younger boy when he was 14 has pleaded guilty and could receive a sentence of three years’ supervised probation if the judge accepts his plea agreement, court documents say.
Tyler James Boyd was originally charged in juvenile court, after a man who is six years younger came forward with claims and evidence that Boyd raped him repeatedly between 1984 and 1986, starting when the victim was about 8 and Boyd was 14.
A Dec. 11 order by District Court Judge Edward Buchanan says Boyd confessed in court Nov. 6, after pleading guilty to third-degree sexual assault — a lesser accusation than the second-degree charge he originally faced, though both are felonies.
Boyd has established a plea agreement with the state’s prosecutor, which says if he completes three years of supervised probation, completes psychosexual treatment at his own cost and fulfills other conditions, the conviction will be dropped.
The judge has ordered a pre-sentence investigation report. In Wyoming typically, judges schedule a sentencing hearing after or near that report’s completion. Then at sentencing, the judge will decide whether he’s going to accept the plea agreement and in this case, sentence Boyd to probation and withhold the conviction from his record as the agreement contemplates.
‘I Hope You Can Forgive Me’
An evidentiary affidavit written by Platte County Sheriff’s Investigator Troy Bartel details a text message exchange, which Bartel says is between Boyd and the victim.
“Can I ask you a couple questions?” asked the victim in a July 1, 2023, text to Boyd, according to the affidavit. The victim had obtained Boyd’s cellphone number from Boyd’s wife, who has since divorced him, according to court documents.
“What made you think it was appropriate to have your way with me?” asked the victim, according to the affidavit. “Do you understand what you did to me what you took from me.”
Boyd asked for a phone call but the victim demanded a text exchange, the document shows.
“You didn’t deserve that. i (sic) deeply regret that. i had two other men do this to me when i was younger,” texted Boyd, according to the affidavit. “And i guess i was following suit. i never did it again. And i hope you can forgive me.”
The victim thanked Boyd for admitting to it, in the written text exchange. He later asked, “was it power or pleasure…. Was it because it was fun or was it because you feel powerless and by doing that to me you felt powerful(?)”
Boyd said he didn’t know, but that he’d seek therapy to find the answer. He also said he felt horrible afterward, according to the affidavit.
But this happened several times, the victim countered. “Did you feel horrible after all of them?”
“of course, and i feel horrible about it still,” Boyd texted back, according to the document, which adds a text in which Boyd said he’s asked the Lord for forgiveness for years.
In the affidavit’s account, Boyd said he suppressed that memory, as with many things he didn’t want to deal with in life, and that he regretted not talking to the victim “that day in town.”
“i (sic) am truly sorry.”
Splinters
In a Nov. 28, 2023, police interview in the victim’s home state, the victim said he met Boyd when his dad rented a house from the Boyds in the mid-1980s, says the affidavit.
Boyd would sexually assault him at two locations on the property for about two years, the man said, adding that Boyd would force his face down onto some split or raw wood and rape him.
The attack hurt, but the pain of the wood splinters against his face would take his mind off it, the man said, according to the affidavit.
Clair McFarland can be reached at clair@cowboystatedaily.com.
CASPER, Wyo. — High school athletics in Wyoming could see some drastic changes in the coming years following legislative changes to the state’s education budget, the Wyoming High School Activities Association recently announced in a statement.
According to the WHSAA, Wyoming school districts are facing a projected $3.9 million shortfall in activities funding, forcing officials to consider significant cuts to high school sports and extracurricular programs.
The WHSAA shared details regarding a new “silo” funding model implemented by the Legislature, stating that the recalibrated block grant model reduced funding for student activities and extra-duty responsibilities from $46.3 million to $42.4 million, an approximately 8.4% decrease statewide.
WHSAA Commissioner Trevor Wilson said the restructuring also restricts district access to an additional $76.2 million in previously flexible funding.
“A significant portion of the [April 28 WHSAA Board of Directors] meeting was dedicated to discussing the projected funding shortfall,” Wilson wrote.
The WHSAA is weighing several strategies to address rising costs with fewer resources. Proposed changes include eliminating regional tournaments and reducing the number of teams qualifying for state events from eight to four; limiting wrestling to two classes and restricting track and field state participants to the top 16 marks; making cuts to soccer, indoor track and field, Nordic and Alpine skiing, swimming and diving, spring golf and tennis; and reducing in-person speech and debate events by half and centrally locating All-State Music events to minimize travel. The board also recommended increasing gate admission or implementing student participation fees to offset costs.
While the WHSAA release states that no plans have been finalized and the various changes are currently just possibilities, Natrona County School District 1 Board of Trustees member Mary Schmidt criticized the WHSAA’s handling of the news at Monday’s board meeting.
“I take some issues with this, [including] the sheer fact that we as Board of Trustees members have not talked about that at all,” Schmidt said. “It is not our intent and it has not been brought to us to cut our athletics or activities budget for the upcoming school year. … I take issue with them picking sports and getting the community upset and ginning them up to be upset that this is all going to be cut when that hasn’t been discussed.”
Later in the meeting, Superintendent Angela Hensley clarified that Natrona County School District 1’s athletics and activities budget saw a reduction of roughly $550,000 in the coming year’s budget, but said the local school district does not plan to cut any sports.
“Thank you, Trustee Schmidt, for saying this, because I think people are wondering — we are not planning to cut athletics and activities for next year,” Hensley said. “We do have to take a look at our entire budget as we have talked about, as we learn more about these new rules that come in.”
Related
Republished with permission from Wyoming News Now, a TV news outlet covering the Cheyenne and Casper areas.
Cheyenne City Council has introduced a temporary moratorium, or pause, on new data center construction.
“The end goal is to actually have regulations in place, to have really heavy public involvement with this with data centers,” said Councilman Mark Moody.
The proposed ordinance is not a permanent ban on data centers and would not affect data centers currently under construction.
Councilman Moody says this is a bipartisan issue.
“I just want to make this clear, I’m not against data centers. We do need them from a national security perspective,” he said.
He said there needs to be more public input and regulations regarding data centers in Cheyenne.
The ordinance would require city staff to study data center impacts such as electricity usage, electricity tariffs, closed-loop cooling systems, groundwater impacts, agricultural impacts, and land value.
Cheyenne LEADS, the economic development corporation for Cheyenne and Laramie County, reported in November 2025 that there are 12 operational data centers in Wyoming, five under construction and plans for 43 data centers announced across the state.
“There needs to be more public input with this, and also to see how many we can sustain here in this community, cause there are talks of 43, and then another day 70. How many can we sustain here?” said Councilman Moody.
The proposed moratorium will now go to the Public Services Committee on Monday, May 18 at noon in the Municipal Building.
Sheridan will play in the North Regional Tournament at Gillette, while the South Regional Tournament will be played at Rock Springs.
North Regional Tournament at Gillette:
Checking record vs. highest team in the quadrant not involved in the tie, Thunder Basin gets the #1 Northeast seed over Campbell County, because the Lady Bolts went 3-1 vs. Sheridan, whereas the Lady Camels went 2-2.
Friday, May 15th:
(#1 NE) Thunder Basin vs. (#4 NW) Jackson – 11am
(#2 NW) Natrona County vs. (#3 NE) Sheridan – 11am
(#2 NE) Campbell County vs. (#3 NW) Kelly Walsh – 1pm
(#1 NW) Cody vs. (#4 NE) Worland – 1pm
Semi-Finals:
Thunder Basin/Jackson winner vs. Natrona County/Sheridan winner – 3pm Winner qualifies for the state tournament.
Campbell County/Kelly Walsh winner vs. Cody/Worland winner – 5pm Winner qualifies for the state tournament.
Consolation Round:
Thunder Basin/Jackson loser vs. Natrona County/Sheridan loser – 3pm LOSER OUT!
Campbell County/Kelly Walsh loser vs. Cody/Worland loser – 5pm LOSER OUT!
Saturday, May 16th:
TBA vs. TBA – 10am LOSER OUT! Winner qualifies for the state tournament.
TBA vs. TBA – 10am LOSER OUT! Winner qualifies for the state tournament.
2 10am winners vs. each other – 1pm 3rd Place
TBA vs. TBA – 1pm 1st Place
South Regional Tournament at Rock Springs:
Friday, May 15th:
(#1 SW) Laramie vs. (#4 SE) Torrington – 11am
(#2 SE) Cheyenne East vs. (#3 SW) Green River – 11am
(#2 SW) Rock Springs vs. (#3 SE) Wheatland – 1pm
(#1 SE) Cheyenne Central vs. (#4 SW) Cheyenne South – 1pm
Semi-Finals:
Laramie/Torrington winner vs. Cheyenne East/Green River winner – 3pm Winner qualifies for the state tournament.
Rock Springs/Wheatland winner vs. Cheyenne Central/Cheyenne South winner – 5pm Winner qualifies for the state tournament.
Consolation Round:
Laramie/Torrington loser vs. Cheyenne East/Green River loser – 3pm LOSER OUT!
Rock Springs/Wheatland loser vs. Cheyenne Central/Cheyenne South loser – 5pm LOSER OUT!
Saturday, May 16th:
TBA vs. TBA – 10am LOSER OUT! Winner qualifies for the state tournament.
TBA vs. TBA – 10am LOSER OUT! Winner qualifies for the state tournament.
2 10am winners vs. each other – 1pm 3rd Place
TBA vs. TBA – 1pm 1st Place
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