Rep. Lauren Boebert’s (R-CO) eldest son, Tyler Boebert, was sentenced Friday to 20 days in jail with work release after pleading guilty in a child abuse and neglect case involving his young son.
The 21-year-old received the sentence in a Colorado courtroom after his toddler was repeatedly found wandering outside without supervision, including an incident that resulted in misdemeanor charges last year.
Rep. Boebert appeared in court and personally asked the judge to show her son leniency before the sentence was handed down.
“Mercy is not softness,” the congresswoman told the court. “Mercy is the difference between correcting a father and orphaning a son during his most important hours.”
Prosecutors filed misdemeanor charges against Tyler Boebert in July 2025 after his toddler was discovered wandering outside his mother’s home in Windsor, Colorado.
Deputy District Attorney Brice Rudolph told the court that the episode was one of three occasions in 2025 when the child had gotten outside without supervision.
In one incident, the toddler wandered near a busy road. On another occasion, he reached an area near the Lake Pelican dock, according to Courthouse News Service.
“Once is a mistake, twice is a coincidence, and three times is a pattern,” Rudolph told the court.
Rep. Boebert defended her son during the sentencing hearing, attributing the incidents to circumstances including a broken door lock and a miscommunication involving an uncle who was supposed to be watching the child.
“I want to talk to you about what kind of father my son is,” Boebert said. She described Tyler as someone who works and returns home to his child, arguing that the incidents reflected failures in communication rather than intentional cruelty.
Tyler declined to personally address the court.
His attorney, Joseph Gavaldon, told the judge that the toddler was particularly adventurous and said Tyler had since installed additional locks and cameras around his Garfield County home in an effort to prevent another incident.
Judge Michele Meyer said the repeated nature of the incidents remained troubling.
The judge also noted that Tyler was already serving a deferred sentence in an unrelated criminal case when the child supervision incidents occurred.
“It appears as though Mr. Boebert has taken this seriously, but I can’t ignore the fact that these are two incidents that put his son in serious harm’s way,” Meyer said, while noting that the child fortunately was not injured, per TMZ.
Meyer ultimately imposed 20 days behind bars with work release rather than the maximum 30-day jail sentence available in the case.
The sentence adds to a string of legal problems involving Tyler Boebert.
In 2024, he pleaded guilty to attempted identity theft after being accused in connection with vehicle break-ins around Rifle, Colorado. He received a deferred sentence in that case and is scheduled to return to court Sept. 10.
Tyler is also facing a separate and substantially more serious criminal case stemming from allegations involving child sexual exploitation material.
The Garfield County Sheriff’s Office arrested him Aug. 9 on an arrest warrant involving sexual exploitation of a child and additional charges. Officials said he posted $10,000 bond and was released the same day.
Colorado Public Radio reported that prosecutors filed five felony charges in that case, including sexual exploitation of a child and contributing to the delinquency of a minor. Those charges remain allegations, and Tyler is presumed innocent unless proven guilty.
According to court reporting, investigators allege that the separate case involves sexually explicit material depicting a girl who was 17 at the time while Tyler was 18.
That case is separate from Friday’s sentencing and was not the basis for the 20-day jail term.
Rep. Boebert, who represents Colorado’s 4th Congressional District, has repeatedly appeared alongside her son as his various legal cases have moved through the courts.
Friday’s hearing placed the congresswoman directly before the judge as a mother and grandmother asking for mercy, but the court ultimately concluded that jail time was warranted after the repeated incidents involving Tyler’s young child.
Tyler will be permitted work release while serving the 20-day sentence.
