Youth Football Coach Faces Child Porn Charges

We expect that coaches of youth sports will treat children with respect and follow all applicable laws when around them. It can be frustrating and shocking to hear of a coach engaging in misconduct, particularly when the act is something so illegal and immoral like child pornography.

On November 19, a 51-year-old man from Owings was recently charged with five counts of child porn production based on an indictment from a federal grand jury. Two minors were featured in the child porn images.

The man was the former coach of a youth football team in Prince George’s County as well as a high school football team in Charles County. He will appear in U.S. District Court at a later date. He is currently detained on separate state charges.

The child porn activity occurred during two months in 2018. During this time, the man coerced one of the victims to engage in sexually explicit conduct. The man then produced images documenting the conduct. The same situation occurred in 2020. On three separate occasions over the course of one month, the man recorded a second victim engaging in sexually explicit conduct. Police believe there are other victims.

If convicted, the man faces at least 15 years in federal prison, which is the mandatory minimum sentence. He faces a maximum sentence of 30 years in prison for each count of child porn production.

Production of Child Porn

Many people don’t think about the repercussions of child porn production. They think it’s fine. They think children enjoy the sexual abuse. They don’t think of the emotional damage that this sexual exploitation will have on the child in the future.

The truth is that children involved in porn suffer extreme physiological, emotional, and mental effects later on in life. Because of this, child porn crimes—particularly ones involving production—are punished quite harshly. A person can face both state and federal charges, with penalties including decades in prison.

Federal obscenity laws make it illegal to produce any type of visual depictions that show minors involved in sexually explicit activity. The law prohibits images and any visual depictions—such drawing, cartoon, sculpture or paintings—that not only shows a minor engaged in sexual activity, but also lacks artistic, literary, or scientific value.

Obscenity is not protected by the First Amendment. However, there are examples of movies that are protected by the First Amendment because they have used adult actors depicting minors involved in sexual activity.