Detroit-area youth gymnastics photographer pleads guilty to distributing child pornography
(CBS DETROIT) - A Detroit-area youth gymnastics photographer pleaded guilty to distributing images of child pornography, officials announced.
David Eric Yellen, 59, of Royal Oak, was charged in June of last year after federal officials found hundreds of files of child pornography on his electronic devices. The FBI learned Yellen was using a peer-to-peer file-sharing software called BitTorrent to distribute the images.
He had worked as a photographer and videographer at several youth gymnastics events over multiple years. When officials searched his devices, they found at least 200 images of the bare feet of children who had attended the gymnastics events, according to U.S. Attorney Dawn Ison.
These photos were in a folder labeled "BFK," which stood for "Barefoot Kids."
Last year, Yellen had said he used BitTorrent but denied uploading or downloading child pornography.
He then admitted that he had downloaded child pornography 10 years ago and still possessed it but claimed he didn't know the material he had on the software was available for other people to download.
Under the plea agreement, Yellen will be sentenced to five to 10 years in prison, followed by a supervised release of five years up to life.
"Yellen's child pornography conduct was aggravated because of his position of trust in the gymnastics community with youth gymnasts and their parents," said Ison. "My office will continue to make the prosecution of child pornography crimes a top priority in order to keep our community and our children safe."