Royal Oak gymnastics photographer arrested on child porn charges
(CBS DETROIT) - A Royal Oak gymnastics photographer is charged with distribution and possession of child pornography after federal officials say they found hundreds of files of child pornography on his hard drive.
An investigation by the FBI began on May 11 when an agent investigating BitTorrent identified 14 files associated with child pornography being transferred using an IP address that was traced to David Yellen.
FBI agents worked with Wide Open West (WOW!) cable company and were able to track the IP address to Yellen's Royal Oak home.
A search warrant was executed on June 1 at Yellen's home.
When questioned, Yellen admitted to possessing child pornography on his electronic devices but denied producing child pornography. According to the FBI, Yellen also admitted using BitTorrent but denied uploading or downloading child pornography. He said that he had downloaded child pornography 10 years ago and still possessed that material but denied knowing the material he had was available to be downloaded by others.
A search of Yellen's hard drive found at least 1,500 files of child sexual exploitation, with at least 500 of those files meeting the federal definition of child pornography.
The hard drive also contained a folder labeled "BFK." Yellen stated in an interview that "BFK" stood for "Barefoot Kids." Authorities found at least 200 images of the bare feet of children who attended the gymnastics academy he was employed by and gymnastics events where he was an official photographer. Yellen admitted to pleasuring himself to the images.
The FBI Detroit Field Office is seeking information from individuals who may have information about this case. Yellen lives in Michigan, but traveled all over the country as a photographer and videographer.
Anyone with information is asked to fill out this form and/or contact FBI Detroit at YellenInvestigation@fbi.gov.
Responses may be useful to this investigation and based on your response, you may be contacted by the FBI.