A 31-year-old male teacher and head football coach at Bartow High School was arrested by the Polk County Sheriff’s Office after reports of inappropriate conduct towards female students led to a criminal investigation. 

Tyler Eden, DOB 01/18/1994, of Bartow has been charged with Lewd Offense against a Student by an Authority Figure (F2), Lewd and Lascivious Touching of a Minor (F3), and Voyeurism (M1). 

The investigation began on April 2, 2025, after a parent reported inappropriate conversations Mr. Eden had with their daughter when the student met with him to perform extra-curricular work for community service hours. 

During the investigation, that included interviews with students and a school administrator, detectives learned that Mr. Eden asked a student if she wanted to earn community service hours by helping him with athletic chores. The student agreed, and went to the locker room where she began to sort football helmets at his direction. During this first interaction, Eden talked to the female victim about a teacher who wanted to have sex with him in the locker room. The victim said she told the coach that she didn't want to talk about that. Eden continued the conversation, telling the victim that he was married, but still wanted to engage in sexual activity with the teacher. 

The next day, the female victim went back to perform more community service. As the victim was helping Eden break down boxes, her hoodie jacket got caught on one of the boxes and the zipper broke open. The hoodie served as her top, so she asked Mr. Eden for a T-shirt that she could put on, as she wished to cover herself up. Eden responded by reaching out and unzipping her jacket all the way, at which point she told him that she was uncomfortable—the only clothing she was wearing underneath the hoodie was a bra. Eden repeatedly tried to fix the jacket, but eventually handed her a t shirt. The victim walked into a separate locker room area to change. When she turned around, he was standing right behind her, watching her. He then complimented her bra, and told her repeatedly there were no cameras there. The victim told Eden she was uncomfortable, at which time Eden asked her not to report the incident. The student reported the incident to her parents that evening, and then to school administrators the next day.

When asked by school administrators what occurred, Eden first said that he only provided the student with a shirt. Then as he was told that he was being placed on administrative leave, he said that he wanted to admit something, and told the staff that, at the student's request, he attempted to help her fix her zipper.

“Not only is this highly inappropriate behavior by a teacher, imagine just how frightened this student was. Here was a male teacher who was already discussing lewd behavior, unzipping her clothes, then following her into a locker room where he remarked there are no cameras, and complimenting her undergarments. This guy is a total creep, and now he's going to jail. We are not going to tolerate school teachers and coaches preying on our children.” – Grady Judd, Sheriff

During the investigation, detectives interviewed two other female students. One student reported that Eden told her there were no cameras in the locker rooms and how it would be "easy to do certain things in there." He also stated that he was popular and that another teacher wanted to have sex with him in the locker room. The other student told detectives that Eden asked her what she wanted to do when she graduated - she told him that she wanted to go to college and be an obstetrician/gynecologist. Eden told the student that he himself would be a good Ob/Gyn because he liked to perform oral sex on women, using crude and graphic language. He then asked the student if she wanted to earn community service hours, and she declined.

“It’s unconscionable that an educator and coach would engage in this kind of behavior with students. This individual has shown that he cannot be trusted, and deserves to face justice for his actions. We commend the Polk County Sheriff’s Office for their thorough investigation, and for taking action to protect students.” — PCPS Superintendent Fred Heid

Tyler Eden was booked into the Polk County Jail, and will have a first appearance hearing on Thursday, April 17th. Please direct your inquiries regarding Eden's employment to Polk County Public Schools.