GOLDEN, Colo. (Scripps News Denver) — A former Denver Police Department sergeant was sentenced Monday after he previously pleaded guilty to attempting to sexually assault a child.
A judge in the First Judicial District Court sentenced Timothy Ronald Hyatt, 45, to four years of sex offender intensive supervised probation after he communicated with an investigator who was posing as a 14-year-old girl online.
Former Denver Police Dept. Sgt. Timothy Hyatt was sentenced after previously pleading guilty to attempting to sexually assault a child. (Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office)
Hyatt was working for the Denver Police Department at the time of his August arrest. He had been an employee since 2005. Upon his arrest, the department put him on non-paid administrative leave.
Hyatt pleaded guilty on Jan. 23 to attempt to commit sexual assault on a child and attempt to commit unlawful sexual contact. Prosecutors stipulated to a four-year deferred judgment for the felony offense, as well as a permanent conviction of attempt to commit unlawful sexual contact. He is required to register as a sex offender and is not allowed to possess firearms, according to the First Judicial District Attorney’s Office.
The charges stem from Feb. 25, 2022, when Hyatt messaged an account online that appeared to belong to a 17-year-old girl, who later disclosed that she was actually 14 years old, but was actually a police investigator. In multiple conversations, Hyatt detailed sex acts he wanted to engage in and arranged to meet the “girl” behind the account at a Lakewood park.
The Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office said he was using “a variety” of identities online to communicate.
He did not appear for the meeting, changed his name and deleted his account, the district attorney’s office said.
Investigators with the Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office were still able to identify Hyatt. On the morning of Aug. 10, he turned himself into police and admitted that he had become “carried away.”
Internet luring of a child is a class 4 felony in Colorado. Hyatt is no longer able to work as a police officer in the state.
This story was originally published March 20, 2023 by KMGH in Denver, an E.W. Scripps Company.
