Tyler J. Hurst, a former Community Medical Center ER doctor, is now facing criminal charges in connection to six separate women accusing him of sexual abuse.
The Missoula County Attorney’s Office filed three new rape charges against Hurst, 40, on Thursday, growing an already existing criminal case filed against the doctor in May.
In total, Hurst is now charged with five felonies: four counts of sexual intercourse without consent and one count of sexual assault, court filings show. He’s also charged with two misdemeanor sexual assault citations. He pleaded not guilty to the new charges on Thursday in Missoula County District Court.
Tyler J. Hurst in court in May.
Amended charging documents include allegations from 12 women in total, all of whom report that they saw Hurst for care at the Community Medical Center ER and were assaulted by him. Many women’s accusations stem from visits they made to the emergency department in 2023, but some date back to 2017, 2019, and 2022.
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Hurst appeared in court on Thursday remotely, from a sex addiction treatment facility in Mississippi, where he’s been allowed by a judge to remain out of custody while his case plays out in Missoula county court.
Statements from multiple women were gathered during law enforcement interviews after Hurst was initially charged and are included in the amended charging documents. One of the new accuser’s allegations stretch back to February of 2017 when she visited the ER and was inappropriately touched by Hurst.
Missoula Deputy County Attorney Brielle Lande, who’s prosecuting the case, argued on Thursday (as well as at Hurst’s previous court appearance) that Hurst needs to be remanded to custody with a high bail set. She requested a $750,000 bond. She said the accusers in the case, many of whom she’s met with, want him in custody.
Missoula County District Judge Shane Vannatta said he’s concerned about the victims but contended bringing Hurst back to Missoula poses the risk of him posting bail, thereby letting him back out into the Missoula community. He added he doesn’t want to expose accusers to encountering Hurst in town.
“It seems to the court that having him run into potential victims in the supermarket or the line for the bank is far more traumatic and difficult than for his alleged victims to know he’s out of state and away from them,” Vannatta said.
Hurst is being represented by Missoula attorneys Dwight Schulte and Jordan Kilby. Schulte told the judge on Thursday Hurst is in a “very good place right now, doing very good work at a very, very good facility.”
His next hearing is scheduled for June 20.
A private Montana law firm brought a civil suit against Hurst last month seeking damages for two women, also accusing the doctor of assault. The case is also in Missoula County District Court.
Zoë Buchli is the education reporter for the Missoulian.
