BALTIMORE, Md. — A former gymnastics instructor who amassed a huge child pornography collection was sentenced Wednesday to 6 1/2 years in prison.
Patrick D. Bogan, 41, taught for 11 years at Baltimore County Gymnastics near White Marsh, where he worked with girls between 5 and 15 years old. Federal prosecutors have found no evidence that Bogan molested any of the girls.
U.S. Attorney Rod J. Rosenstein said the case against Bogan was significant because of the sheer volume of child pornography in his possession — hundreds of sexually explicit images of children on his computer and hundreds of pornographic videotapes of minors.
Bogan pleaded guilty in May to one count of receipt of child pornography.
He will be on supervised probation for 10 years after his release and must register as a sex offender. He was also barred from seeking employment that puts him in regular contact with children under 18.
U.S. District Judge William S. Nickerson denied a request by prosecutors to place Bogan on supervised release for life. Nickerson said he was struck by letters of support he received from parents of children Bogan worked with, The (Baltimore) Sun reported.
“There has been no attempt to produce or to sell child pornography, or any attempt to arrange a meeting or engage in a sex act with a minor,” Nickerson said. “Even parents of young children entrusted in his care were in favor of a lenient sentence.”
Bogan expressed remorse for his actions and the pain he has caused his family, friends and neighbors.
“I’m very deeply sorry,” he said, adding, “I’ve been doing a community-based therapy program that I would definitely like to complete.”
The FBI began investigating Bogan after he accessed a file that indicated it contained child pornography but was run by a covert FBI computer. Agents raided his home and a storage unit, where they uncovered his collection. Bogan told authorities he had been looking at child pornography for about 20 years.