Care worker claims she raped babies to please sex offender boyfriend
Heather Koon and her partner James Osborne could face life in prision with no parole
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Your support makes all the difference.A care worker from Ohio has pleaded guilty to raping four children and alleges her boyfriend, a convicted sex offender, urged her to commit the crimes.
Heather Koon, 27, took explicit photographs of the abuse of the children, who were under her care.
Her partner, James Osborne, 37, also pleaded guilty to complicity to rape and other charges at a separate court appearance.
The charges the pair face each carry 15 years in prison, though they could both be sentenced to life without parole at the discretion of the judge at a future hearing, Lorain County’s Chronicle-Telegram reports.
Koon’s attorney, Dan Wightman, told the paper his client was following Osborne’s orders when she carried out the abuse.
He said: “We are hopeful that at the end of the day the judge recognises that Heather to a great extent felt compelled to be involved in this activity.
“But she does have a lot of remorse about it.”
Osborne, who appeared at court in a prison uniform and in chains, is already serving an eight-year prison sentence for breaching the terms of his probation agreement in a previous conviction involving child pornography.
The abuse by the couple was discovered in 2013 when police arrested Osborne at Koon’s home for failing to register as a sex offender and not using the address he had given the court.
Officers found a laptop computer next to him and an iPhone containing a sexually explicit image of a teenage girl. Osborne had been banned from using the internet as part of his probation agreement.
The police subsequently discovered videos and images of Koon sexually abusing the children in her care.
Kreig Brusnahan, Osborne’s lawyer, told the court his client knew what he did was wrong.
“My client can’t take back what happened and is sincerely regretful for what he has done,” he said.