MARYLAND GYMNASTICS TEACHER WITH MASSIVE CHILD PORNOGRAPHY COLLECTION SENTENCED TO 6 ½ YEARS FOR RECEIVING CHILD PORN

Defendant Was Caught as a Result of Nationwide Investigation of Sophisticated Internet Message Board

BALTIMORE - U.S. District Judge William M. Nickerson sentenced Patrick Bogan, 41, of Edgewood, Maryland, today to 78 months in prison followed by 10 years of supervised release on child pornography charges in one of the most significant child pornography cases ever prosecuted in Maryland due to the sheer volume of child pornography possessed by the defendant, announced U.S. Attorney for the District of Maryland Rod J. Rosenstein.

“It is heartbreaking to think about the thousands of children who are victimized to produce child pornography and the many child molesters who draw encouragement from people who collect and trade pictures and videos of abused children,” said U.S. Attorney Rosenstein. “Mr. Bogan’s case was a top priority for our office because he worked with so many children in his job as a gymnastics instructor.”

This case arose from a nationwide investigation of a sophisticated internet message board conducted last year by the FBI. After determining that the bulletin board contained child pornography, undercover FBI agents used the bulletin board to post a link to a file on a covert FBI computer. The FBI captured the internet addresses of computers that tried to download the file, which was actually a non-pornographic image file.

Bogan accessed the advertised file on Oct. 25, 2006. FBI agents traced Bogan’s access to the file to his residence in Edgewood, Maryland. At the time, Bogan was employed as a gymnastics teacher at Baltimore County Gymnastics, working with children ages five to 15 years.

On March 2, 2007, agents searched Bogan’s home and recovered five cabinets that contained VHS videotapes of child pornography. Agents also located a separate off-site storage unit that contained child pornography.

Bogan admitted that he had been looking at child pornography for approximately 20 years, initially collecting child pornography through the mail. In the 1990's he used the Internet and WebTV, and in the last five years, the Internet and a computer, to collect child pornography. More than 800 VHS tapes were located, with each tape full of child pornography and child erotica. A review of Bogan’s computer hard-drive revealed numerous folders and subfolders containing countless images of child pornography, including depictions of sexually explicit conduct with prepubescent females. The computer folders were extremely well organized alphabetically and numerically. Agents also located 21 pairs of girls’ underpants in Bogan’s bedroom.

This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood. In February 2006, Attorney General Alberto R. Gonzales launched Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative designed to protect children from online exploitation and abuse. Led by the U.S. Attorneys’ Offices, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state and local resources to better locate, apprehend, and prosecute individuals who exploit children via the Internet, as well as identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.projectsafechildhood.gov/ .

United States Attorney Rod J. Rosenstein praised the Federal Bureau of Investigation for its investigative work. Mr. Rosenstein thanked Special Assistant U.S. Attorney Daniel J. Fortune and Assistant U.S. Attorney Bonnie S. Greenberg, who prosecuted the case.