Marathon man sentenced in child sex case, now faces states charges

U.S. District Judge K. Michael Moore has sentenced a former Marathon father of seven children to 20 years in prison, followed by a lifetime of supervised release, after he previously pleaded guilty to distributing child pornography.

Eric Edward Cadogan, 39, moved to La Crosse, Wisconsin, and was arrested there late last year after FBI agents and other federal uncovered pornographic images of children on his cellphone and other electronic devices, according to court documents.

Cadogan, and his wife, Kia Lynn Cadogan, are also facing charges in state court as the Monroe County State Attorney Office and the Monroe County Sheriff’s Office arrested and charged the wife on multiple felony state court charges of aggravated child abuse and child sexual battery in January. In the past month, the State Attorney’s Office issued an arrest warrant as well for Eric Cadogan on felony state charges, Assistant State Attorney Joe Mansfield said.

While Cadogan is serving 20 years in federal prison, he will be taken to Monroe County and tried on the state charges, Mansfield said.

Monroe County Sheriff Rick Ramsay called the case one of the most “heinous” and “disgusting cases” his office has ever investigated, he told The Keys Citizen on Wednesday, June 25.

Eric Cadogan uploaded and distributed child pornography using a social media messaging platform, KIK. Cadogan also offered to sell child pornography and said he had “100 of videos n pictures,” representatives of the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Miami stated in a news release, citing Cadogan’s factual proffer in support of the plea and information presented in court.

In messages with an online undercover agent, Cadogan indicated he had engaged in sexually explicit conduct with minor children.

After Cadogan was arrested on the federal charges, state prosecutors and Sheriff’s Office detectives arrested his wife, as she admitted to federal authorities to having sex with a boy as young as 8 years old on the couple’s boat in Boot Key Harbor, but she told investigators that Eric Cadogan forced her to do it, according to federal court documents.

This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood (PSC), a nationwide initiative launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse. Led by United States Attorneys’ Offices and the Criminal Division’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section, PSC marshals federal, state and local resources to locate, apprehend and prosecute individuals, who sexually exploit children, and to identify and rescue victims.

For information about the PSC initiative and for information regarding Internet safety, please visit www.justice.gov/psc.

Anyone with information regarding suspected child abuse (to include physical and sexual abuse) is encouraged to call 1-800-CALL-FBI (800-225-5324) or visit tips.fbi.gov.