MONROE COUNTY, Ind. — A Monroe County couple has been sentenced for their role in a scheme to sexually abuse five children and keep their scheme hidden from authorities.
Matthew Cole, 31, was sentenced to over 41 years in prison and his wife, 41-year-old Dolores Cole, was sentenced to 15 years imprisonment, the United States Attorney's Office in the Southern District of Indiana announced Tuesday.
Beginning in 2014, the Coles were living in Arizona and had custody, care, or supervisory control of six children, according to the Justice Department. Over the next few years, multiple allegations of abuse were made against them. To avoid having the children removed from their care and prevent discovery by officials, the Coles moved the children to residences in different states, ultimately to Indiana.
Search warrants were executed at their residence in August 2018, and an investigation by Indiana authorities uncovered evidence that five of the six children had been sexually abused. Investigators also found evidence that Matthew Cole produced and distributed sexually explicit images of one of the children and that both Coles threatened the children.
Matthew Cole pleaded guilty to conspiracy to transport minors across state lines with the intent to engage in criminal sexual activity, sexual exploitation of a child and witness tampering. Dolores Cole pleaded guilty to being an accessory after the fact to sexual exploitation of a child, witness tampering and obstruction of justice.
"The pain and damage inflicted on these children at the hands of adults they trusted is unimaginable," U.S. Attorney Zachary A. Myers said in a statement. "No sentence of imprisonment will undo what these victims have suffered, but the serious consequences imposed for these heinous offenses demonstrate that those who sexually exploit vulnerable children will be held accountable for their reprehensible actions."
All of the children involved were rescued as a result of the investigation, which was conducted by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Monroe County Sheriff's Office, and the Indiana Department of Children's Services.