Man sentenced to prison after bragging about rape of teen girl
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IDAHO FALLS — A man who bragged about having sex with a 16-year-old girl has been sentenced to prison.
Corwin Raymond Cole, 33, was sentenced to up to 14 and a half years in prison after Cole pleaded guilty to rape where the victim is 16 or 17, and the perpetrator is three or more years older. The plea came as part of a deal to drop the felony charges of sexual battery of a child and sexual exploitation of a child. He will be eligible for parole after two years and six months.
District Judge Dane Watkins said, in his statements Monday, it was impossible for Cole to avoid prison time.
“There were multiple sexual occurrences between a 33-year-old male and a 16-year-old victim. That, in itself, justifies a prison sentence,”
Cole was originally arrested after he showed nude photos of the victim to acquaintances in a veterans group Cole is a part of. One of the people he showed the photos to reported it to authorities and Cole was taken into custody on May 17, 2018.
On Monday, while arguing for a reduced sentence, defense attorney Douglas Knutson argued the victim was allegedly running a prostitution business on Craigslist.
“This is not a typical 16-year-old girl,” Knutson said. “There are 10 to 12 other people who were caught by law-enforcement as a result of her marketing herself and this business she was running.”
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But Knutson also said this specific case didn’t involve prostitution. Cole did not meet the victim through Craigslist. Instead, Knutson said Cole and the victim became friends through social media.
As part of this relationship, Bonneville County Deputy Prosecuting Attorney John Dewey said Cole was aware of the victim’s age and supposedly knew that she had a history of sexual abuse. He also told investigators he was in love with the teen.
Dewey read a statement Cole made to the psychosexual evaluator before sentencing.
“We got to know each other pretty well. She told me her first long-term sexual partner was her half brother beginning when she was 14,” Cole told the psychosexual evaluator. “She also said she had been molested by her sister. She also told me she had been caught in a sting when she was prostituting.”
Cole told the evaluator the victim said she had many sexually abusive experiences. Cole said he believed the victim used sex as a coping mechanism.
“I wanted to show her something better,” Cole said.
During the sentencing, Cole did express regret over his actions and indicated he wanted to get help.
“You’re honor, I did wrong and I know that. And I want to accept responsibility for that. That’s very important for me,” he said.
Watkins acknowledged that, but also said he believed Cole realized the victim was “broken” early on in their relationship and he used that knowledge.
“You indicated you wanted to show this child something different. And what you showed her is exactly what others had. And that was rape,” Watkins said.