COLDWATER, MI (WTVB) – A Coldwater man was ordered to serve between three and 15 years in Michigan Department of Corrections Monday in Branch County Circuit Court after he entered a guilty plea to a charge of third degree criminal sexual conduct. 22-year-old Tyler Caldwell was originally charged with five felonies for exchanging nearly 20,000 messages and sexually explicit photos online through Facebook with a then 14-year-old girl.
As part of the plea agreement with prosecutors, three other third degree C.S.C. counts as well as a child abuse charge were dismissed.
Caldwell will have to pay $411 in restitution and he will have to register as a sex offender with the state. He was given 124 days credit for time already spent in jail.
Caldwell was arrested in July 2018 following a Coldwater Police Department investigation which started after the girl’s mother discovered the relationship and obtained a personal protection order against him.
