Convicted child molester with disturbing, lengthy rap sheet found dead in prison; cellmate eyed as killer

A convicted child molester with a disturbing and lengthy rap was found dead in a California prison. Authorities have named his cellmate as a suspect in his death.

The California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation announced in a statement that an inmate was found unresponsive in his cell around 6:30 a.m. April 4 at the Mule Creek State Prison in Ione.

Cole was a volleyball coach with his twin brother, Jason Cole, when they were accused of molesting several victims, according to KCRA-TV.

Officers initiated lifesaving measures and then rushed the inmate to the prison's medical facility. A paramedic pronounced 48-year-old Robert E. Cole dead at 6:43 a.m. April 4.

Officials with the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation said they are investigating the death as a homicide.

Cole’s cellmate — 36-year-old Justin P. Welsh — was named as a suspect in the inmate's death and placed in restricted housing pending an investigation by the Mule Creek State Prison Investigative Services Unit and the Amador County District Attorney’s Office.

The Amador County Coroner will determine Cole's cause of death, according to the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation.

The California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation said Cole had been at the prison since August 2019.

Cole was a volleyball coach with his twin brother, Jason Cole, when they were accused of molesting several victims, according to KCRA-TV.

Cole was sentenced to life in prison with the possibility of parole for adult engaging in sex/sodomy with a child 10 years old or younger, adult engaging in oral copulation/penetration with a child 10 years of younger, lewd or lascivious acts with a child under 14 years old, oral copulation with force/violence/fear with a child under 14 years old, oral copulation with an unconscious victim, attempted sodomy with a victim under 18 years old, and attempted oral copulation with a victim under 16 years old and the subject over 21 years old.

Welsh was admitted to the prison in May 2023 and had been sentenced to 18 years in prison for corporal injury on a person within seven years of a prior conviction and assault with a firearm, both second-strike offenses, with enhancements for inflicting great bodily injury involving domestic violence and prior felony conviction of a serious offense.

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