Parents Testify Los Gatos Mother Sent Their Son Explicit Sexual Text

The parents of the 17-year-old alleged to have been the victim of a Los Gatos woman whom prosecutors say seduced him and had sexual intercourse with him three times were put on the witness stand Wednesday morning.

But before they testified that Sara Palumbo Cole had sexual relations with their son, Santa Clara County Prosecutor Timothy Moore, accompanied by Los Gatos-Monte Sereno police Detective Erin Lunsford, showed jurors a text message on a large projector screen inside the courtroom that he alleged was sent to the teen by the defendant.

It read: "The love of my life, Matthew ... who has as big a penis as (the accused' ex-husband), maybe even bigger. Definately [sic] better."

Moore told the jurors, "That text was sent ... to the victim in this case, a 16-year-old boy."

He added, "The evidence will show that she lied ... she blamed the boys ... that it must have been a joke from the boys ... ""That text is a touch-off point for this case, in many respects. It's not only shocking, not only crude, and very telling as to the nature of the relationship that this 47-year-old defendant had with a 16-year-old boy."

The text, Moore said, was found by the teen's mother, and it's one of about 30 messages that the prosecution alleges Cole sent the youth.

On the stand, both parents recounted how they came to know Cole through their son's involvement in Little League baseball activities, and how they trusted her with the boy.

The parents acknowledged the young man, who's almost 18 now, was going through a rough time while the alleged acts are said to have occurred. His problems starting in his sophomore year at Los Gatos High School, when they said he began to use marijuana. They also said the teen was best friends with Cole's oldest son.

They also said that to get him out of the destructive environment he was in, they sent him to a wilderness camp program in Utah on July 15, 2010, followed by therapy.

While he was at the camp, the parents testified they wanted access to his cellphone messages and obtained his pass code. That's when they saw the text and immediately reported it to the Los Gatos/Monte Sereno Police Department, Moore said.

Lunsford interviewed the teen while he was in the program, Moore added, and he supposedly acknowledged that he spent increased amounts of time at Cole's home as a result of his parents' attempts to take away his car, allowance and desire to lead such a destructive lifestyle.

"He told Detective Lunsford he was supplied cigarettes at will, alcohol, money, food and, most important of all, marijuana," Moore said. "He told Detective Lunsford that at some point, the defendant kissed him in her home ... and it progressed from there."

The boy is expected to testify against Cole, the prosecutor indicated, and say that he endured the advances, because he wanted to "get the freebies," and that he told investigators that "sexual intercourse occurred three times."

Cole's attorney, Mike Armstrong, reserved his opening arguments but cross-examined both parents. His questions were aimed at revealing the nature of the relationship the parents had with her and the trust they placed in her. She would pick up the boy for baseball practices, and he was allowed to go to sleepovers at her house. At one time, the parents even gave her money to cover his food expenses while he was at her place.

The parents were spared the lengthy legal instructions by Superior Court Judge Jerome Brock to the 14-member jury seated in Dept. 35 of the San Jose Hall of Justice.

Cole has pleaded not guilty to three felony counts of unlawful sex with a minor. If convicted, she could serve a maximum jail sentence of four years and four months.

In order to convict Cole of all three counts, the verdict has to be unanimous, Brock explained to the jury, made up of eight women and six men.

"You folks are heroes," the judge told the jurors, promising them a speedy and problem-free trial. "Your job is very crucial."

To find that Cole is guilty of the charges, the prosecution must prove that she had sexual intercourse with the boy, meaning any penetration, no matter how slight, of the genitalia by the penis. "It's not a defense that the other person may have consented to the intercourse," the judge said.

A fourth count alleges that on or about April 1, 2010, and July 15, 2010, the crime of annoying or molesting a child was committed by Cole, which is a misdemeanor.

To find Cole guilty of this charge, the prosecution must prove that Cole engaged in conduct directed at the boy, that a normal person would have been disturbed, irritated, offended or injured by the defendant's conduct, and that the conduct was motivated by an unnatural or abnormal sexual interest in the minor, Brock said.

The trial continues Thursday, with a break on Friday, and resumes on Monday.

Last summer, the , acting on concerns by the parents, launched a two-month investigation. In September, officers served a search warrant at Cole’s home and seized equipment and phones, police sources say.

On Sept. 30, 2010, Cole turned herself in to police after a warrant had been issued for her arrest. The mother of four was accused of having an affair with a local teenage boy over the course of several months.

She was released on a $30,000 bail on Oct. 1, 2010, and arraigned on Oct. 13, 2010.

In 2007, Cole was embraced by Los Gatos after nearly being killed by a drunken driver. At the time, Cole was considered a local hero and a living warning about the dangers of drunken drivers.