A former Poudre School District bus attendant agreed to plead guilty to seven felony counts of assault against an at-risk individual and misdemeanor charges of child abuse and harassment in Larimer County District Court on Monday.
Tyler Zanella, 37, entered tentative guilty pleas to one count involving each of the 11 named victims in the case for his conduct last spring while working on school buses transporting children with special needs. He did so as part of an agreement with prosecutors to avoid a trial.
The agreement is only tentative at this point, 8th Judicial District Judge Daniel McDonald said, pending his review of a presentence investigation and evaluation of the defendant’s suitability for serving a prison term in community corrections vs. state prison. A sentencing hearing was set for April 12 in his courtroom at the Larimer County Justice Center, at which time the judge will either approve the deal and impose a sentence or reject the agreement and schedule a trial.
Zanella entered separate guilty pleas to seven of the 27 counts of assault in the third degree against an at-risk individual, a Class 6 felony, that he was facing in this case and two counts apiece of harassment and child abuse that knowingly or recklessly causes bodily injury, both Class 1 misdemeanors.