Kimberly Cole (Caddo County Sheriff’s Office)
CADDO COUNTY, Okla. (KOKH) — A woman accused of abusing and neglecting her son appeared in court on Thursday.
Kimberly Cole, the biological mother of a child who went missing from his home in Chickasha and sparked a county-wide search.
Investigators soon determined that the boy was attempting to escape a life of abuse.
“I seen it one time before my sister passed away a year and a half ago. I seen it when she took me out to her property in Cement, okay? They got shackles around his ankles,” Tina Molina, the boy’s relative told FOX 25. “We called the cops immediately. The first time, they took him right back to the parents. The second time he was here, they took him right back to the parents, and I begged them not to do that.”
When the boy was found, authorities took a closer look at his mother, Kimberly Cole, and stepfather, George Cole.
“We can assure you, [the child] was found safe, and at this point, he will not go back to that property or to those parents,” said OSBI public information officer Hunter McKee.
Kimberly Cole has been charged with three counts of child abuse, two counts of child sexual abuse, three counts of child neglect, one count of conspiracy, and two counts of crimes against nature.
The boy’s stepfather, George Cole, was charged with eight counts of child abuse, one count of child sexual abuse, three counts of child neglect, one count of pattern of criminal offenses, and one count of conspiracy.
However, he died after being taken off of life support after a suicide attempt in jail.
