‘The Bachelorette’ Alum Joshua Tylerbest Charged with Child Pornography in Miami
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Former Bachelorette Season 17 contestant Joshua Tylerbest was charged with 15 felony counts of possession of child pornography in Florida in February 2023.
Tylerbest, a 27-year-old IT consultant from Miami, appeared in Katie Thurston‘s season of The Bachelorette in 2021 and made it four weeks on the show before being eliminated. Miami-Dade court documents show he was charged on February 23, 2023, after law enforcement carried out a search warrant that revealed he had 15 images on his iPhone that met Florida’s criteria for child pornography, per NBC News.
He pleaded not guilty to the charges of possession of materials showing sexual performance by a child and was released on a $5,000 bond. He’s expected back in court this June.
The charges came a year after police were first alerted of Tylerbest’s possible criminal actions. A police report states an investigation was opened on March 26, 2022, after 50 images/videos showing the sexual abuse of children were uploaded to a Google account registered to Tylerbest.
Several electronic devices were seized when police searched Tylerbest’s residence, according to TMZ. Police discovered evidence of him interacting with the explicit images. Some of the children depicted in the pieces of digital media were reportedly younger than 10 years old.
Tylerbest was previously active on social media during his time on The Bachelorette, but his Instagram account now appears to be deactivated.
He was 25 years old when he appeared on Season 17 of the ABC reality dating show. His time on the show was relatively drama-free. He got along with Thurston, but she sent him home in week four, giving a rose to Blake Moynes instead, whom she ended up getting engaged to at the end of the season. Tylerbest did not appear on Bachelor In Paradise like some alums of the flagship franchise.
His LinkedIn profile states he is a Senior Associate at True Search in Miami and attended the University of Florida.
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