Overview
- Michael Lawrence Tyler, 55, entered the guilty plea on March 17 in Ascension Parish court, foregoing a trial that had been set for March 30.
- He faces up to 20 years in prison, with a judge ordering a presentence investigation and setting sentencing for June 15.
- Prosecutors filed nolle prosequi to dismiss nine non-rape counts, leaving the case centered on the rape conviction.
- He has been held without bond since his July 2022 arrest after a woman reported an assault at his Prairieville home.
- Authorities cited the victim’s visible injuries and recovered corroborating evidence, and Tyler’s record includes a 2003 sexual-battery conviction that made him a registered sex offender.