Another man joins Newton man serving decades in prison for child sexual exploitation

Thursday, September 26, 2024 at 8:40 AM

By Staff report

Another man sentenced in a child sexual exploitation case that resulted in a Newton man spending over 40 years in prison.

Dustin Scott Cox, 54, of Indianapolis, has been sentenced to 35 years in federal prison, followed by a lifetime of supervised release, after pleading guilty to sexual exploitation of a child and conspiracy to commit sexual exploitation of a child.

According to court documents, between at least February and September of 2020, Cox conspired with Zachary Nichols, of Newton, to sexually abuse and produce sexual images of a fifteen-year-old child. Cox is a repeat child sex offender, convicted in 2004 for coercing a 14-year-old to perform sex acts in exchange for a new bicycle.

In 2020, Cox was Nichols’ methamphetamine dealer. Nichols sexually abused the child victim for years. Nichols began allowing Cox to sexually abuse the child as well, in exchange for supplying Nichols with methamphetamine. On multiple occasions, Cox and Nichols recorded their sexual abuse of the victim. The child was nearly incapacitated because of drug use in some of the child sex abuse material that Nichols and Cox created.

On August 25, 2022, Nichols was arrested in Illinois. A court-authorized search of his phone and Google account showed multiple image and video files depicting Nichols sexually abusing the child.

In June, Nichols was sentenced to 42 years in federal prison for his role in sexually exploiting and abusing the child.

“These heinous predators repeatedly sexually abused a child, incapacitated them with meth, and traded the victim’s body for drugs,” said Zachary A. Myers, U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Indiana. “Our hearts go out to the survivor of these horrific abuses, and we hope this prosecution brings them some measure of peace. The lifelong trauma inflicted by these sick criminals merits federal prison sentences that will ensure that neither of them ever harms another child. Together with our partners at the FBI and IMPD, our office is committed aggressively prosecuting sex offenders who prey upon our children and removing them from our communities.”

“Every child deserves to be live and thrive in a safe environment without worry of harm and abuse. This sentence reflects the severity of this heinous offense and should put others on notice that the FBI and our law enforcement partners will continue to hold accountable those who prey on our children,” said FBI Indianapolis Special Agent in Charge Herbert J. Stapleton.

The FBI and the Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department investigated this case. The sentence was imposed by U.S. District Judge James R. Sweeney II. Cox has also been ordered to pay $10,000 in restitution to the victim and maintain his sex offender status wherever he lives, works, or goes to school upon release from federal prison.