Robert Anglen

The Republic | azcentral.com

Tyler Kost was freed from jail Friday and back home with his family, three years after the former Pinal County sheriff labeled him a teenage serial rapist.

Kost, 20, walked out of jail exactly one week after he was sentenced to time served as part of a deal with prosecutors that allowed him to plead guilty to three counts of attempted sexual conduct with a minor and three counts of child abuse.

"My understanding is that he is very happy to be home and somewhat shell-shocked," Kost's lawyer, Joey Hamby of Phoenix, said Friday. "Tyler has spent nearly the last three years in custody."

Kost's 6 a.m. release was marked by another in the string of unusual circumstances that have come to define his case.

Hamby said Kost's parents, who fought for three years for his release and attended his every court hearing, were not waiting for him outside of the detention facility because they were not informed of his release until after it happened.

Hamby said it was an issue of bureaucracy and credited Pinal County officials with helping to expedite his release after last week's hearing.

"They did everything they could," Hamby said. "Some people went above and beyond ... what they needed to do."

Kost was accused in 2014 of sexually assaulting and molesting 11 girls between the ages of 12 and 17 and was indicted on more than two dozen charges. Then-Pinal County Sheriff Paul Babeu held news conferences describing the high-school senior as a predator who "harassed, stalked and threatened his victims."

But prosecutors last month dropped all rape charges. Kost admitted to touching the breasts of three girls without consent and attempting to have sexual contact with two minors, although no sex act was completed. Prosecutors also agreed not to fight Kost's request for a minimum sentence.

Newly elected Pinal County Attorney Kent Volkner said the plea deal was a way to close an "ugly chapter" in the county's history and give everyone involved in the case closure.

Pinal County Superior Court Judge Kevin White, at a sentencing hearing Feb. 10, called the plea agreement appropriate and said it rightfully would not satisfy victims nor Kost.

White could have sentenced Kost to more than seven years in prison but instead gave him a minimum of three years each on two counts and allowed the sentences to run concurrently. He also ordered Kost to serve 15 years of probation and warned him that if he broke the rules he could be facing up to 50 years in prison.

White gave Kost credit for 990 days served, making him eligible for immediate release.

White's decision followed a morning of emotionally devastating testimony from some of Kost’s victims, who said he raped them and manipulated them into silence with threats and taunts.

Choking back tears, one woman said she was 14 when Kost sexually abused her. She said Kost told her if she told anyone, she would be known as a "whore" and "slut." She said she considered suicide and was later hospitalized.

“He told me God would never forgive me and my family would never love me,” another woman said.

Kost’s former girlfriend said she was a freshman when he raped her. In a strong, clear voice she said, “You are one of the most sick, demented, disturbed human beings I have ever met.”

Victims said Kost never apologized, even going so far as to suggest he was set up as part of a conspiracy.

Kost, shackled and wearing a brown prison jumpsuit, stared straight ahead as his former classmates and friends testified. When it was his turn to address the court, he spoke fast and read haltingly from a statement.

“I want to apologize for my actions. ... I made serious mistakes,” he said. “I’m sorry for the pain I caused.”

The Florence courtroom was evenly split between families of victims and Kost’s supporters, many wearing buttons with his picture.

Kost’s parents made their own plea to the judge, describing his Lutheran upbringing and how “he was raised always putting others before himself.”

James and Angelique Kost said the allegations against their son upended their lives, causing them to be reviled among their friends and neighbors.

“Judge, Tyler’s a good kid,” James Kost said. “We ask that you allow him to come home and let the healing process begin.”

Former neighbors, sitting on opposite sides of the courtroom and separated by their feelings of justice in the case, winced at frequent reminders that only a few years ago they celebrated the same high school victories and attended the same homecoming games in the San Tan Valley area.

Babeu’s comments about Kost made international headlines. But the investigation faltered amid accusations of political grandstanding, and the case fell apart.

A sheriff’s investigator who worked the case was terminated for malfeasance, evidence was improperly collected, and interviews with witnesses were mishandled, according to Kost’s lawyers.

“It is upsetting that a politician used some kids on both sides of this case for political gain,” Hamby said Friday after the hearing. “Babeu continued to milk this.”

Babeu's term as sheriff expired in January. He ran for Congress in 2016 but lost.

But Kost remained in jail. A state law preventing defendants accused of sex crimes against minors from obtaining bail guaranteed Kost would stay locked up until his case could be heard in court.

Ironically, the Arizona Supreme Court struck down the law last week, ruling that bail must be decided on an individual basis based on the amount of risk a defendant poses.

White said he was forced to balance the mitigating factors of Kost’s age and lack of criminal record with the aggravating factors of what victims suffered.

White also said he took into consideration reports by medical doctors and the county’s probation department indicating Kost posed a low risk to the community.

Kost is required to register as a sex offender.

San Tan Valley man Tyler Kost sentenced to 3 years in serial sex-crimes case