A former Florida Keys resident, Eric Cadogan, was recently arrested on horrifying charges of molesting his own children and distributing the footage, just a month after being sentenced to federal prison for child pornography offenses. The Monroe County Sheriff’s Office revealed that Cadogan’s alleged crimes took place on a sailboat where he lived with his family.
The 39-year-old Cadogan resided on the sailboat moored off a marina in Marathon, in the Middle Keys, from 2019 until he moved back to Wisconsin four years later. His wife and their five biological children also lived on the boat. The details of these crimes emerged when the FBI arrested Cadogan in Wisconsin last December for distributing child pornography. An undercover agent posing as a buyer exposed Cadogan’s offer to sell hundreds of explicit images of children. Agents found a bracelet worn by a man in some of these images in Cadogan’s Wisconsin bedroom, FL Keys News.
In June, Cadogan pleaded guilty to these federal charges and received a 20-year prison sentence. During the federal investigation, it was uncovered that Cadogan’s wife, Kia Lynn Cadogan, had confessed to the FBI that she molested one of their children. This led the Monroe County Sheriff’s Office to launch their own investigation earlier this year.
In January, deputies arrested 34-year-old Kia Lynn Cadogan on several counts of aggravated child abuse and child sexual battery. Her case is pending, and she remains in county jail on a $550,000 bond. On Tuesday, the sheriff’s office announced Eric Cadogan’s arrest on multiple felony charges, including incest, sexual assault, child cruelty, contributing to the delinquency of a child, and lewd and lascivious behavior on a child.
Sheriff Rick Ramsay emphasized the commitment of his office to protecting children. “Myself and the men and women of the Sheriff’s Office are committed to protecting the most vulnerable among us — our children,” he stated. “I want to commend the Sheriff’s Office Major Crimes Detectives and our law enforcement partners who worked to ensure these two suspects were brought to justice.”
The probable cause affidavit details several instances where Eric Cadogan raped his children, encouraged them to engage in sexual acts with each other, and filmed these crimes on his cell phone. A judge has ordered him held in jail on a $2.2 million bond.
Information on the legal representation for either Eric or Kia Cadogan was not immediately available, and authorities did not provide updates on the children’s current whereabouts. Kia Cadogan informed FBI agents that Eric forced her to molest their child. However, Sheriff Ramsay expressed skepticism about her claims. When she was arrested in January, Ramsay noted that she had numerous opportunities to report the alleged crimes while living in the Keys.
“Our job is to protect people. If people come forward, they get protected,” Ramsay said. “She was equally a co-conspirator.”
The case underscores the grave nature of child exploitation and the ongoing efforts of law enforcement to bring those responsible to justice.