A Baltimore County gymnastics instructor on Tuesday was ordered to stay on home detention while he awaits trial on federal charges that he possessed hundreds of “violent and aggressive” child pornography images, prosecutors said.
U.S. District Court Magistrate Judge Susan Gauvey ordered Patrick Bogan, 42, of Edgewood, to be on 24-hour home detention with electronic monitoring. He is to have no contact with children and no computer access, Gauvey ruled.
“We have a guy who for over 20 years has been interested and obsessed with child pornography, is a gymnastics coach working with children 3 to 15 years old, and has 21 pairs of panties in his room,” Assistant U.S. Attorney Daniel Fortune argued Tuesday. “There?s a risk, there?s a chance that he has molested a child. We don?t know who these panties belong to, and that?s a concern.”
Bogan?s attorney, Booth Ripke, argued that Bogan is not a danger to the community and should be released from behind bars while awaiting his trial. No trial date has been sent.
“We do not have any evidence to suggest that he has actively engaged in the production of child pornography,” Ripke argued.
The charges against Bogan, who coached hundreds of children at Baltimore County Gymnastics in White Marsh, upset parents of the children he coached, said a Middle River father who declined to use his name.
On Feb. 26, a Maryland state trooper working with the FBI obtained a search warrant for Bogan?s Edgewood home, then began the search at 6:15 a.m. March 2.
During the search, Bogan admitted to agents that he?s been looking at child pornography on the computer for the last five years, according to charging documents.
Federal agents said they located five cabinets in Bogan?s residence, including one that contained pairs of little girls? panties, charging documents state. Bogan said he did not remember where he got the underwear from, according to police.
He told investigators he is addicted to child pornography and knows it is wrong, charging documents state.
Fortune said federal agents are still learning the extent of Bogan?s large collection of child pornography.
“There were over 800 videotapes,” he said. “The federal agents have reviewed 264 VHS tapes. Of those, 250 contained child pornography and child erotica.”
