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A Michigan man who previously served prison time for knowingly transmitting HIV to sexual partners is under arrest again for allegedly transmitting the disease to a teenage boy after grooming him for sex.
In a Facebook post, the Genesee County Sheriff’s Office says that 55-year-old John Dushan Cole was arrested last week on 12 felony charges that include criminal sexual conduct, accosting a child for immoral purposes and knowingly engaging in intercourse with the intent to infect an uninformed partner with HIV.
"He is one of the most vile [predators] that I’ve seen," Genesee County Sheriff Christopher Swanson said in the Facebook post. "His grooming tactics were some of the best that I’ve seen, in the worst way."
Police say that Cole, who previously went by the name "Johnny Peters," was previously convicted of fourth-degree criminal sexual conduct in 1987 and sentenced to prison eight years later for document fraud. In 2013, Cole was sent to prison again for felony sexual penetration with an uninformed partner after officials investigated an increase in young men testing positive for HIV.
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John Dushan Cole, 55, is facing 12 felony charges for alleged sexual assault of a teenager. (Genesee County Sheriff’s Office)
After being released from prison in 2022, the Genesee County Sheriff’s Office says Peters changed his name and befriended a person who had a 15-year-old relative.
"Predators are always looking for some type of connection," Swanson said. "That’s their grooming tactic. So, they use that in order to get into where they can perform their sexual acts and take away the innocence of these individuals, and in this case, infect them with a fatal disease, in many cases."
Police say Cole previously served prison time for transmitting HIV to unsuspecting partners. (Genesee County Sheriff’s Office)
Shortly after, Cole is alleged to have taken the teenage boy to a basketball game and sexually assaulted him on the way to the game as well as in a parking lot. A month later, Cole is believed to have sexually assaulted the victim again at a bowling alley.
Text messages between Cole and the victim allegedly show him offering the teenage boy cash.
"Listen, don’t even worry about that," Cole allegedly said in one of the text messages. "I’ll give you money. You buy your own, have time for games, you should’ve called me. I’m trying to take care of you. I’m not playing any games. I’ll give you the money. You [buy] your own PlayStation, whatever you want, but you gotta do your part."
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John Dushan Cole allegedly sent this text message to a teenage boy. (Genesee County Sheriff’s Office)
The victim’s family notified police in April 2023, which sparked the investigation, Click 2 Detroit reported.
According to Swanson, Cole hosted a podcast that he used to groom sexual targets, and in one episode, he wore a Nickelodeon T-shirt and discussed his goal of protecting children who are uncared for.
"We’re not just talking about criminal sexual conduct to juveniles, we’re talking about somebody who, again, intentionally infected them with HIV," Swanson said.
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