Deputies: 7-year-old girl sexually abused repeatedly by former Volusia County telecommunicator, wife

VOLUSIA COUNTY, Fla. — A former Volusia County Sheriff’s Office telecommunciator and his wife face charges of sexually abusing a 7-year-old girl, deputies said.

Tyler Bush-Conn, 28, of South Daytona, and his wife, Talisha Bush-Conn, 27, of Deltona, were arrested Tuesday morning.

Authorities in Alabama contacted the Sheriff’s Office Child Exploitation Unit around 8 p.m. Monday after the girl said she was abused by the couple, deputies said.

The girl told detectives that as early as 2016, she was abused at the Bush-Conns' home on Wade Street in DeLand, and at another home in Deltona, deputies said.

"Multiple occasions, according to our victim, of sexual abuse over a period of weeks or months," Volusia County Sheriff's Office spokesman Andrew Gant said.

The girl told detectives Tyler Bush-Conn had sex with her several times and took pictures of her, deputies said.

Through their investigation, detectives also determined that Talisha Bush-Conn engaged in at least one sexual encounter with the victim as well, investigators said.

Tyler Bush-Conn faces charges of sexual battery on a victim under the age of 12 and lewd or lascivious molestation.

Talisha Bush-Conn faces charges of being a principal to sexual battery on a victim under the age of 12, lewd or lascivious exhibition, child abuse, and child neglect.

According to a charging afidavit, Tyler Bush-Conn told the girl "that if she ever told anyone, he would hurt her."

Tyler Bush-Conn also told detectives that "he has a sexual interest in children and has felt these desires since he was young," the affidavit said.

"Our hearts are broken for that little girl, for what she had to go through. What he put her through," Gant said.

Tyler Bush-Conn was hired by the Sheriff’s Office on March 17, 2014, and was terminated on Oct. 28, 2016. Talisha Bush-Conn is employed by the County of Volusia in EVAC Emergency Medical Services, investigators said.

The Department of Children and Families has custody of the couple’s two children.

The couple, which has separated, was being held in the Volusia County Jail without bail.

Investigators said additional charges against one or both of the suspects are expected to be filed in the near future.

Cox Media Group