INDIANAPOLIS — The founder of a nonprofit aimed at helping the homeless was arrested on accusations of rape, promotion of child sex trafficking, promotion of human sex trafficking and intimidation.
Tyree Coleman is being held on an $80,000 bond.
Coleman, who often times went by Elder Coleman, had his initial hearing Tuesday.
According to court documents, the director of Flanner House requested to talk with IMPD officers after a 17-year-old and 16-year-old came to him with accusations about Coleman in June 2022.
The teenagers claimed they were near Watkins Park when they saw a group of men at one of the shelters grilling out and listening to music. The teens said the men gestured for them to come over. Once there, the teenagers claimed Coleman prayed with them, offered to buy one of them new shoes and said he would buy them church clothes.
After exchanging phone numbers, the 17-year-old claimed Coleman reached out through text messages and social media and even sent him fifty dollars on Cash App from the Seven Pillars Refuge Church bank account. The 17-year-old then claimed Coleman reached out through a video app and asked him for sex in exchange for money.
The 17-year-old claims Coleman told him he was a registered sex offender, but that God had changed his ways. He said Coleman offered to meet him at the mall to buy clothes and then offered him $1,000 for sex. The teenager said Coleman also offered him marijuana. The teenager told police he then blocked Coleman's number.
According to a DCS report, Coleman admitted meeting the teenagers and sending one $50 from the church account. Coleman allegedly denied any propositions for sex and refused to provide DCS with information about his phone.
On June 28, Coleman was arrested by the Marion County Sheriff's Department for failure to register as a sex offender.
When police checked Coleman's phones, they allegedly found messages where Coleman was engaging in prostitution by offering money for sex, oral sex, and nude photos or videos from young males.
Investigators found the address for Coleman's nonprofit was actually a dental office. A dentist at the office said Coleman was connected to her family through the church and received mailed donations for Refuge Place Indy at the office. Investigators believe Coleman was using donations from the nonprofit to pay for sex acts.
In January 2023, IMPD said it then received a complaint of Coleman being involved in a sex crime.
According to court documents, a man came to the Logansport Police Department to make a complaint against Coleman.
The man said he was traveling to northern Indiana on a Greyhound bus, when he missed getting back on the bus during a stop in Indianapolis. The man said his belongings were still on the bus and so he was left stranded. He told police he called family, but there was no one that could pick him up.
The man said he checked into Wheeler Mission and while looking for additional support, he came across Coleman's church bus. The man said Coleman offered to let the man stay at his home.
Documents say Coleman allegedly bought the man new shoes and that the man gave Coleman oral sex in return for a phone. The man claimed Coleman threatened to kill him if he had any STDs. Coleman then allegedly would give the man $20 or $30 for oral sex.
The man told officers he agreed to have sex with Coleman, but that they agreed to stop if it hurt. The man said when they had intercourse it did hurt and he asked Coleman to stop multiple times, but Coleman did not stop. The man told officers he couldn't leave the home because he had nowhere else to stay.
The man told investigators that he would help Coleman hand out items in downtown Indianapolis and that Coleman would use the money people donated to him to pay the man for oral sex.
The man also allegedly told investigators that Coleman told him that Coleman killed a 17-year-old who had accused Coleman of rape and gave him an STD. The man said he believed that was Coleman's way of intimidating him into not talking about the rape.
Coleman has a trial preliminarily set for June on the charges.