Underwater fetish lands man in jail again

An Auburn man’s alleged bizarre aquatic sexual fetish has landed him in legal hot water yet again.

Former attorney Jonathan R. Tyrell was busted for parole violation last week, after he tried to recruit an Auburn teen for a bogus research study on “underwater sleep apnea,” Roseville Police said.

“In reality what this study was accomplishing was satisfying his sexual urges to see people underwater holding their breath,” said Det. Sgt. Darin DeFreece.

That’s the activity that resulted in a conviction for misdemeanor child molestation following a 2005 RPD investigation, authorities say.

In that case, Tyrell identified himself as a scientific researcher to teenagers and young adults, then paid them to be research subjects, according to previous reports.

Tyrell immersed them in his bathtub and asked them to hold their breath while he photographed and recorded them.

“The court has ruled that that violates the penal code and is considered harmful matter,” DeFreece said.

Tyrell, who pleaded no contest, served three years of a five year and four month sentence for the molestation charge as well as for forgery, possession of methamphetamine, and battery causing serious bodily injury.

DeFreece said Tyrell recently approached the Auburn teen where he worked as a server in an Auburn restaurant and offered him a job as a legal assistant – neglecting to say he was disbarred in 2007.

Tyrell allegedly told the teen he was applying for research grants on underwater apnea and asked him to help draw up a “legal contract” for test subjects.

“He’s doing the same thing that he did before,” DeFreece said, adding that terms of Tyrell’s parole restricted him from doing so.

But the young man’s father grew suspicious when his son told him about the proposition. When an Internet search turned up news stories about Tyrell’s earlier case, the father called Roseville Police.

Tyrell’s former employer, Gloria Martinez-Senftner of the Martinez-Senftner law firm in Roseville, didn’t return a call for comment.

In court records filed last year, Tyrell claimed he should be released partly because of “outrageous misconduct” on the part of Roseville Police. He claimed they subjected him to “intracranial sounds” including “barely audible…buzzing, tones and voices” in his bedroom and bathroom. A judge had yet to rule on the claim.

“At least one of these broadcasts included the rap, entitled: ‘You’re Busted! We’re Going to Get You!’” Tyrell claimed.

DeFreece said he thinks it’s likely Tyrell may have contacted other people, including minors, in his recruitment efforts. He’s asking anyone with information to call Police Investigations at 774-5070.

“I sincerely believe there are people out there he reached out to that maybe didn’t bite,” DeFreece said.

Tyrell was currently in custody in the California Department of Corrections awaiting a parole violation hearing.

Article Credit – Auburnjournal.com