Heather Koon, 27, has pleaded guilty to a whole laundry list of crimes against children when she worked at the ABC Kidz Child Care in Elyria, Ohio. Koon claimed she committed the crimes at the request of her sex offender boyfriend, James Osborne, 37. Last week, she pleaded guilty to four counts of rape, kidnapping and pandering obscenity involving a minor, illegal use of a minor in nudity-oriented material, tampering with evidence and engaging in a pattern of corrupt activity.
Osborne had already pleaded guilty to four counts of complicity to rape, complicity to kidnapping and pandering obscenity involving a minor, engaging in a pattern of corrupt activity, failure to register as a sex offender and illegal use of a minor in nudity-oriented material. Originally, Osborne faced 81 charges and Koon faced 40.
The couple had sex with the small children as Koon took pictures and recorded videos of the action. Several parents, whose children were victims of the pair are suing the daycare center and Koon.
Deputies discovered the abuse after arresting Osborne in September 2013; he’d been living with Koon in Elyria instead of the Oberlin address he’d given to the county. Deputies found Osborne, who’d been banned from the internet because of a previous child pornography case, with a laptop computer and an explicit photo of a teen girl on his phone.
A search of the phone and laptop led to the discovery of videos and images of Koon abusing children from the day care where she worked.
Many of the charges against them carry a sentence of 15 years to life in prison; the sentence could be increased to life without parole if a judge decides Koon and Osborne are sexually violent predators. They would also have to register as sex offenders for the rest of their lives if they ever get out of prison.