Lauren Boebert rails about ‘sexualization’ of children. Her son now faces child exploitation charges

The son of Colorado Rep. Lauren Boebert, a Republican, now faces child exploitation charges.

The Garfield County Sheriff’s Office announced that Tyler Boebert, 21, was arrested on charges including sexual exploitation of a child and several other offenses.

CBS affiliate WTAJ reports he faces three charges of sexual exploitation of a child — one involving enticing or inducing, one involving intent and one involving videos — as well as two counts of contributing to the delinquency of a minor. He was arrested on a warrant, and court records indicate that the charges stem from an incident that allegedly began on January 1, 2024, when he was 19.

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The sheriff’s office said Tyler Boebert’s bond was set at $ 10,000, and that he bonded out the same day he was booked into the Garfield County Jail. The investigation remains ongoing.

Lauren Boebert issued a statement to TMZ about the arrest, saying, “I love my son. We take these allegations very seriously and pray for everyone affected during this challenging time.”

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This isn’t the first time Tyler Boebert has faced charges related to the welfare of a child. He was charged in February with misdemeanor child abuse without injury after allegedly allowing his 2-year-old son to wander away from a family home. Lauren Boebert at the time told Colorado outlet KUSA that “a kind woman quickly and safely secured him, and authorities were called as a precaution.”

Before that, Tyler Boebert was arrested in February 2024 by the Rifle Police Department in connection with a string of vehicle trespass and property thefts. He later went to trial on 22 criminal charges, including four felony counts of criminal possession of identification documents, one felony count of conspiracy to commit a felony, and more than 15 additional misdemeanor and petty offenses.

Related: Lauren Boebert's son charged with child abuse for a second time

That arrest occurred about two months after the conduct underlying the latest exploitation charges allegedly began.

Boebert, a prominent MAGA congresswoman, has a long history of criticizing LGBTQ+ Americans while calling some LGBTQ+ visibility a threat to kids. “What I've criticized is the sexualization of our children. And I've criticized men dressing up as caricatures of women,” she told CPR News in 2022, more than a year before the alleged conduct at the center of her son’s latest charges began.

She once chased a woman into a restroom at the Capitol, mistakenly believing she was transgender lawmaker Rep. Sarah McBride, amid concerns that a “guy” could be using a women’s restroom. Boebert has also faced public criticism over a video showing her intimately touching a male companion during a performance of Beetlejuice at a Denver theater in 2023.