District Attorney C.J. Robinson hopes a guilty plea from John Cole Carter settles lots of questions in the public. The prosecutor hopes it is a relief to the 13- and 14-year old victims, their families and the general public as well.
The former City of Wetumpka firefighter, Carter, 31, of Elmore, entered guilty pleas for five different criminal acts before 19th Circuit Court Judge Joy Booth Monday morning — transmitting obscene material, possession of child porngraphy, second-degree sex abuse, electronic solicitation of a child and enticing a child for immoral purposes.
“The misinformation on this case has been more so than we normally have,” Robinson said. “It is not all that uncommon when you have someone who works in public service, like a firefighter [charged with a crime]. There is a public trust there because those types of people are looking out for us.”
Charges of facilitating travel for child sex, transmitting obscene material to a child, one count of electronic solicitation of a child and a count of enticing a child were dropped as part of a plea agreement.
Assistant district attorney Brittney Pinon proffered what prosecutors expected evidence to show if the case went to trial this week. She said Carter was in contact with two victims for the first six months of 2023 via phone, text and video. One victim even traveled to a Wetumpka Fire Department station and a family business.
“They would grind upon one another and kiss,” Pinon told Booth.
This accounts for the second-degree sex abuse based on the victim's age.
While the two victims were having a sleepover, Carter asked them to film sex acts in the shower.
“They would transmit those videos to him,” Pinon said. “There are videos of Mr. Carter in the shower video chatting with the 14-year-old where he is fully nude. He is masterbating on the phone with her for quite some time.”
Pinon said Carter asked about the victims fantasies to which one replied to have sex with a married man.
“Carter responded, ‘‘I can help check that off the list,’” Pinon said.
Carter also encouraged the victims to start planning a future together, messaging they would be a couple when they turned 18.
Carter resigned as a Wetumpka firefighter at the time of his arrest. The investigation into Carter started when a victim’s father reported issues to the Wetumpka Police Department.
Wetumpka police chief Greg Benton said the investigation started in June when the father of a child under 16 came and made a statement to investigators resulting in Carter’s June arrest.
Benton said the investigation revealed Carter used Snapchat to send messages to a child under the age of 16.
Robinson said he doesn’t expect the sentence to be at the maximum but does expect it to be more than the minimum 20 years. Either way it will be difficult.
“Sentencing will be a hard day,” Robinson said. “It will be a black eye on everybody. This is a black eye on public trust.”
