27 Year-Old Pendleton, OR Rapist Dies In Prison

A man who pled guilty at the age of 19 of committing multiple rapes in the Pendleton, OR area died in prison over the weekend.  The first rape was committed back in 2015 with others happening in 2016.

Cole James Pryor was sentenced to 14 years and seven months in prison after admitting to 1st and 2nd degree rape charges for raping multiple underage girls.  When he was sentenced as a 19 year-old in 2017, Pryor's release date was set for 2031.  he didn't live long enough to see it.

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Pryor Was Pronounced Dead Over The Weekend

The Oregon Department of Corrections announced Sunday night (November 16th) that Pryor had died while in custody at the Two Rivers Correctional Unit in Umatilla.  Pryor was 27 at the time of his death and had roughly another 5 1/2 on his sentence.

Pryor's next of kin have been made aware, as have the Oregon State Police who will investigate the death.  The Oregon State Medical Examiner will determine the official cause.

The Question To Be Answered Is...

What causes the death of a 27 year-old man in prison?  There could be an underlying medical condition that developed.  It's not a secret that rapists aren't the most popular people in prison.  If you rape children that lack or popularity increases.

That's not to insinuate anything nefarious happened, but it has been documented that inmates don't look kindly on others that commit those types of crimes.  Living behind bars for as many years as Pryor did couldn't have been easy and may have taken a toll in a number of ways.

The only thing that can be said for certain, it's never 'timely' for a 27 year old to die suddenly when not under hospice care.