Tyler Joseph Zanella Sentenced to 12.5 Years

Tyler Zanella was sentenced today to the maximum of 12.5 years, with 10.5 years in the Colorado Department of Corrections with a preceding 2 years in the Larimer County Jail following a guilty plea to the top charge for each of his victims. That included seven counts of Assault in the Third Degree on an at-risk person, a Class 6 Felony, two counts of Harassment, a Class 1 Misdemeanor, and two counts of Child Abuse, a Class 1 Misdemeanor. The 8^th Judicial District Attorney’s Office secured Zanella’s guilty plea on January 29^th, 2024.

In May 2023, Tyler Zanella, a para-professional with the Poudre School District, was accused of hitting an autistic, non-verbal child who was on Zanella’s bus route. Following an investigation, law enforcement found evidence that this behavior had happened several times with this child and found that ten more children had been abused. Videos of these incidents were captured by bus surveillance footage.

 The 8^th Judicial District Attorney’s Office prosecution team, led by Special Victims Unit Chief Prosecutor, Laura Hinojos, successfully argued to the Court that Zanella knowingly abused the children who were placed in his care during his employment with the Poudre School District.  “This was a 36-year-old man abusing children from ages 5-10,” said Hinojos. “He believes that he did not cause any long-term effects to these children, and much like most things he says—this is a lie.” Hinojos also submitted to the Court a compilation video of every incident of abuse that was captured on video before today’s hearing.

This case has numerous victims and has impacted our community a great deal. Twelve individuals provided statements to the court about the effect of Zanella’s abuse on the victims, their families, and the community at large.

Judge Daniel McDonald made the following statement prior to his ruling, “I have no idea who needs to hear this, and I have no idea if they are in this room or not, but you don’t hire someone with a conviction of child abuse to be a paraprofessional to work with kids.” He then detailed the abuse he witnessed Zanella commit on each of these children. “I believe that the only option is to remove Mr. Zanella from the community for as long as I can.”

“We, as a community, expect and trust those caring for our children to be held to the highest standards and Mr. Zanella violated that trust and victimized some of the most vulnerable members of our community,” said District Attorney, Gordon McLaughlin. “I’m glad we were able to resolve this case to bring closure for the community without unnecessarily subjecting the victims to the additional trauma a trial would cause.”

“The bravery of the victims and their families cannot be understated, and I am incredibly proud that our team was able to secure a guilty plea and significant prison sentence that will prevent Mr. Zanella from hurting anyone else.”