Sacramento area volleyball coaches and twin brothers Jason and Robert Cole have both been arrested on charges of lewd acts upon a child, the Lincoln Police Department says. Both have been arrested multiple times for crimes committed against children, and this will add additional charges to their dockets.
Robert Cole was arrested on April 20th, 2018 on charges relating to child molestation, including “sodomy by force” and “lewd acts with a child between 14 and 15.” Several other victims have come forward since, and he was taken into custody at the Placer County Jail, where he was already being held on his previous charges.
Jason Cole was arrested more than a year earlier, on April 5th, 2017, on charges that he had sex with an unconscious victim under the age of 18, and then again in January for driving under the influence. He has been out on bail awaiting trial on the 2017 charges, but was appearing in a Placer County courtroom on a matter unrelated to the molestation charges when he was taken into custody by police on the new charges.
Both coaches have been ruled permanently ineligible by the U.S. Center for Safe Sport as a result of the charges. Robert Cole’s ban took effect on April 20th, 2018, while Jason Cole wasn’t permanently banned until the latest arrest on May 23rd, 2018. Those bans extend to all membership roles under all umbrellas of the USOC, including USA Volleyball.
Both men coached high school and club volleyball in the area, with Robert Cole having worked as a boys’ varsity coach at Placer High School from 2010-2012, and briefly thereafter was hired by the district, but terminated 6 hours later according to Davis Enterprise news reports at the time. Among the clubs he coached with was the Northern California Volleyball Club. He is also a U.S. Army veteran who served between 1998 and 2010.
Jason Cole was a former varsity boys’ volleyball coach at Roseville High School and also coached at the Northern California Volleyball Club, where he remained on staff until his arrest, in spite of police having notified the club in 2016 of the allegations.
The Lincoln Police Department is asking anyone with information about possible victims to call them at 916-645-4040.
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