Boonville sex offender arrested after online sting

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

A Boonville sex offender was arrested Monday after investigators say he exchanged graphic, sexual messages with a detective posing at two different teenagers.

Stephen D. Tyler was booked into the Cooper County Jail without bond, the Cooper County Sheriff's Office said in a Facebook post. He is charged with four counts of failure to register and one count of attempted child enticement -- all felonies.

Investigators say Tyler, a registered sex offender, exchanged explicit messages with a detective posing as a 16-year-old and then as a 14-year-old. The messages were sent on social media platforms that Tyler had not included in his registration as required by Missouri law, according to a probable cause statement.

The most recent message was sent a week ago, the statement says. Investigators say Tyler knew the ages of the personas with whom he was communicating.

The statement says Tyler has criminal convictions in several states and has violated his sex offender registration in multiple states.