Man Wanted in Colorado on Child Sex Charges Arrested in Willits — Then Released
Tyler Cales was listed on Colorado’s Top 100 Most Wanted Sex Offenders List (cropped) in the 45th spot as recently as 2021. Though he still has active warrants in the state, recent lists we have reviewed have not included Cales.
A man wanted in Colorado on child sex crime charges was arrested in Willits earlier this month after a woman found him asleep inside her home, but was released after four days, with the district attorney declining to file one of the three charges against him.
Tyler Greyson Cales, 28, of Willits, was arrested May 2 by Mendocino County Sheriff’s deputies after a resident on Della Avenue reported finding an unknown man sleeping in her bedroom. When confronted, Cales left the home and walked toward the city of Willits, according to the Mendocino County Sheriff’s Office.
Deputies located Cales nearby. He told them he had been given permission to stay at the residence, but investigators say they found no credible evidence to support the claim. Cales consented to a search of his backpack, which turned up two live .22 caliber rounds and drug paraphernalia used to consume methamphetamine. A records check showed Cales is prohibited from possessing ammunition due to a prior criminal conviction.
He was arrested on PC 30305(a)(1) — prohibited person in possession of ammunition, PC 602.5 — entering a non-commercial dwelling, and HS 11364 — possession of drug paraphernalia, and booked into Mendocino County Jail on $15,000 bail.
What “no file” means
Mendocino Jail booking log for Tyler Greyson Cales
The Mendocino County DA’s office declined to file the dwelling entry charge. Cales was released May 6 after serving four days on the two charges that were filed — the felony ammunition count and the drug paraphernalia charge.
When a district attorney declines to file charges after an arrest, it means the DA’s office has reviewed the case and determined it does not meet the threshold needed to proceed. A DA may choose not to file for a number of reasons: insufficient evidence to prove the charge beyond a reasonable doubt, a belief that the case would not survive a preliminary hearing, legal issues with how evidence was gathered, or a judgment that the charge is not a productive use of limited prosecutorial resources.
Mendocino County District Attorney David Eyster did not respond to a request for comment made Thursday. This story will be updated if a response is received.
A record that started as a juvenile in Colorado
Cales’ troubles with law enforcement in Colorado trace back to when he was a juvenile. Court records from that period are sealed under Colorado law, which generally prohibits the release of juvenile adjudication records. What is publicly known is that he was convicted in 2013 — when he would have been approximately 15 or 16 years old based on his 1997 birth year — of sexual assault by a person in a position of trust, according to a 2016 Denver7 report.
The Arapahoe County Sheriff’s Office confirmed to Redheaded Blackbelt that an active warrant for Cales from 2014 exists but said it cannot release details because he was a juvenile at the time. A Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office spokesperson told Redheaded Blackbelt that Cales is wanted there on charges of sexual assault of a child and aggravated incest. He had previously been listed on the Colorado Bureau of Investigation’s most wanted sex offenders list.
Nine years unaccounted for
Redheaded Blackbelt found no public record of Cales anywhere in the United States between August 2014, when Colorado issued the failure-to-register warrant, and May 2023, when Mendocino County records show his first local arrest. Where he was during those nine years is not known.
Screenshot of online arrest database for Tyler Greyson Cales
His Mendocino County arrest history includes a May 2023 probation violation, an August 2023 arrest for inflicting corporal injury on a spouse or cohabitant and violating a domestic relations court order, an October 2024 felony parole violation, an April 2024 arrest on corporal injury and felony parole violation charges, and a February 2025 arrest on drug possession and probation violation charges, according to booking records.
Why Colorado’s warrants don’t bring him home
When someone is arrested in California on out-of-state warrants, whether they are returned to face those charges depends on a process called extradition — and on whether the state that issued the warrants is willing to pay for it.
Under the Uniform Criminal Extradition Act, which both California and Colorado follow, the state that issued the warrant must formally request the return of the fugitive and agree to cover the cost of transport and custody. If Colorado designates its warrants as non-extraditable, it is telling California law enforcement in advance that it will not make that request and will not pay those costs. Mendocino County has no legal authority or financial incentive to send a person across state lines when the requesting state has already said it won’t take him back.
Non-extraditable designations are common for older warrants, lower-level charges, or cases where the issuing agency has determined the cost of extradition outweighs the benefit. The Colorado Bureau of Investigation confirmed to Redheaded Blackbelt that all of Cales’ Colorado warrants — including those tied to felony-level charges — carry that non-extraditable designation.
Cales has a string of Mendocino County arrests and has remained in the area. He is presumed innocent until proven guilty on all charges.
Anyone with information related to the May 2 incident is asked to contact the Mendocino County Sheriff’s Office at 707-463-4086 (option 1) or the anonymous tip line at 707-234-2100.
Earlier: Willits Woman Finds Stranger Asleep in Her Bedroom; Man Arrested After Ammo Found in Backpack
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Is the Red Haired Black Belt saying with this article that the DAs office should have charged him with entering a noncommercial dwelling would have resulted in holding longer or convicting him of a more serious crime? That this represents a dereliction of duty by the DA?
They reported the story. By doing so they have no intention of answering these questions. They are doing their job as the media of pointing something out that is important. I don’t think you understand the role of the media.
Truly I don’t if the media can’t say why a story is important. Which was what I was asking that wasn’t in the article.
I expect most everyone thinks why is one of the 5 Ws of reporting that are “The Five Ws is a checklist used in journalism to ensure that the lead contains all the essential points of a story. As far back as 1913, reporters were taught that the lead should answer these questions about the situation being reported.”
So I will be kind enough not to ask the air the rude question of who it is that doesn’t understand the role of media.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Five_Ws
Frank, you are correct. Part of journalism’s role is documenting and explaining how the system functions in practice. In this case, the article laid out the arrest, the charges, the DA’s filing decision, and the resulting release after four days.
Readers can decide for themselves whether the declined charge was significant, but the sequence itself is newsworthy and worth understanding. We also included a general explanation of what a “no file” decision means and we reached out to the DA for comment.
This reader has no clue what charging the two offenses but not the third meant in terms of any change in sentence, procedures etc. Although others may have opinions as to what they think it means, unless they have special knowlege of the legal system this reader doesn’t, they won’t really know either. Therefore she asked. It was a simple as that.
Obviously putting this much effort in stringing together so much information meant the reporter thought something was meaningful. Asking what that was is therefore useful for the reader to decide anything rationally. Would it not have been better to just say what the possible result of the third charge might be?
Red Haired Black Belt? Do you have a link to that site?
Looking for a cheap shot? Because you hit a bullseye on it if you were.
Recidivism is why the crime rate is so high. 20% of criminals commit 80% of the crimes. We need to lock up the recidivists for the good of society. A second chance is okay but a 5th, 10th, 20th chance is foolhardy and dangerous.
Not for child predators, once convicted they should get the death penalty within a year.
Yes.
Unfortunately they can never be trusted to be in public again. Children are too precious to risk like that…
Like three strikes was meant to do?
Newsome and Bonta did a fine job at dulling that judicial sword into a butter knife. Doesn’t help that they also took prisons such as San Quentin and turned them into rehab centers. A rehab center that was just this week the focus of an in-house methamphetamine operation getting busted. So much for that rehab, eh? Three strikes means nothing. Bonta is also up for re-election.
John Chiv had it.
Another report.
Our system fails miserably at reforming criminals.
Simply putting someone in jail does not make them a better person.
We need to greatly increase post-release supports and monitoring, and those programs should become increasingly lengthy and restrictive the more times a person is rearrested.
Few do that much better and some are lots worse, which suggests the problem is not simply the system.
https://worldpopulationreview.com/country-rankings/recidivism-rates-by-country
Well Singapore is one positive outlier by the “Crime rates in Singapore are some of the lowest in the world, with petty crimes such as pickpocketing and street theft rarely occurring, and violent crime being extremely rare. Penalties for drug offences such as trafficking in Singapore are severe, and include the death penalty.
Singapore has indoctrinated strong rule of law and their civil and criminal justice systems have consistently performed well over the years. ”
Certainly death penalties do reduce recidivism.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crime_in_Singapore
It’s also illegal to chew gum in Singapore.
Norway is an example of a country that has reduced its recidivism rate to less than half that or the United States’– and did so without killing people.
The stats didn’t show that but any real information as to what Norway does that could apply here would be nice. I suspect that Norway’s public is simply more law abiding to start with, the statsics in the link I cited where from before the flood of unskilled immigration stretched their welfare system, and the stats for other Nordic countries are not so low, which indicates a difference in reports more than a system difference.
BTW Norway and Singapore are both outliers. Fairly closely so. Even though Norway likely has far less actions they label crimes than Singapore. So dismissing Singapore while embracing Norway seems pretty arbitrary and for the purpose of agenda. Not that it’s not possible to learn something if reasonable attention to facts rather than opinions happened.
https://www.lifeinnorway.net/crime-figures/
https://www.statista.com/statistics/1179966/number-of-reported-crimes-in-norway/
btw it is not illegal to chew gum in Singapore. “Here’s what surprises most people: chewing gum itself isn’t illegal in Singapore. The act of putting gum in your mouth and chewing it won’t land you in jail. What’s banned is importing, selling, and manufacturing chewing gum within Singapore’s borders.
This distinction matters. Singapore’s gum laws have been distorted into legend since 1992. The real regulations are strict but targeted. This guide breaks down exactly what’s legal, what’s not, who gets exceptions, and what penalties actually look like in 2026. If you’re traveling to Singapore or just curious about one of the world’s strangest laws, you’ll find your answers here.”
https://legaloverview.com/is-it-illegal-to-chew-gum-in-singapore/
Singapore is a virtual police state, a sanitized version of Beijing. They have severe drug laws and severe laws about dammed near everything else. It’s a utopia of strict conformity.
Been there ?
Yes
People have to want to be rehabilitated, it’s as simple as that. When I did time in San Quentin (2008-2012). The opportunities I had to better myself were many, but a small portion of the low level inmates took advantage. The “lifers” had a much higher portion of inmates taking part because they had a vested interest in completing programs that look good to the parole board. That said not all prisons (even in CA) offer many rehabilitation opportunities, even then San Quentin was known as the “Program Prison”, and I was fortunate to land in a place where I had opportunities, but like many I could have chosen not to take advantage
Rehabilitation programs should not just be offered, they should be required.
And maintaining employment, housing, and sobriety should be required after release.
I agree, but the reality is most prisons offer nothing more in the way of rehabilitation other than AA, NA, Church services and the reality that if you don’t do your assigned menial job (that makes the prison function) you receive no good time credit. Clearly that’s not enough.
As far as parole. First thing, the agent wants to come to your house, know where you work and get a urine sample. It’s not that parole agents aren’t doing their jobs, it’s the fact that most people who violate parole face minimal consequences because the county doesn’t want to house these people and changes in the law make it unlikely they will be returned to state custody.
Staying straight is most always a condition of release. Unfortunately a parole officer can’t be present 24/7.
You’re right about all that. Jail doesn’t make people better, it makes them better criminals. 50 plus years ago I spent a couple of weeks in the county jail and most of the conversations were about past criminal behavior and trade secrets on how to do better in the future.
Gosh. Wish we could afford all that. But we gotta bomb the shit out of Iran instead. Grrrrr!
I’m all about 2nd chances for most things. Even a 3rd chance! If only we could redirect funds to have enough funding to support more rehab facilities with better mental counseling combined with some job skills and a waiting job on the back end we could build confidence and pride in the low-level criminals we now are casting aside into the vortex of drugs and continued crime. Like maybe if we weren’t spending so much money keeping violent rapists and murderers alive and imprisoned forever we could save some other people?
Superb real journalism, not the widespread using weird press releases without checking into anything. Good job!
“Sexual assault of a child, aggravated incest, domestic violence, using meth, breaking into houses. It’s good that we protected his freedom and I’m sure he’ll turn his life around now! Thank God we don’t live in a state that would put this poor misunderstood man into jail when he really just needs love.”
-The DA
Please send hugs for this misunderstood victim of himself…
The humboldt county DA has had a recording of my rapist admitting to the crime sitting on his desk for almost a year now and still refuses to file the charges. These people are genuinely useless.
Liberal states coddling criminals is nothing new. Fake news makes all the excuses. He’ll kill someone next time and these POS leftists will cry ” but look at his childhood!” The states involved and the local D.A. will be responsible for his next crime. Good job everyone.
Release the Epstein files. That should get another one off the streets.
Or more specifically, hopefully out of the White House.
Seems ridiculous with this man’s criminal history right here in the county of Mendocino that the DA wouldn’t file on a felony charge that can carry up to 3 years