INDIANAPOLIS — The former assistant track coach at Attica High School in Western Indiana is going to federal prison for 24-years, after pleading guilty to child porn charges.
41-year-old Jeremy Kelley of Attica was working as a coach when he was arrested on July 1, 2018. He was sentenced Monday by U.S. District Court Judge Sarah Evans Barker.
According to U.S. Attorney Josh Minkler, the investigation began in early 2018 in Montgomery County, about 40-miles from Attica, when the sheriff's department received a cyber tip from the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children involving Kelley. Detectives began an investigation which led to a storage device with over 16,000 images and video files of mostly child porn.
As the investigation continued, the FBI got involved and detectives found 451 videos and 27,000 images of mostly child porn on Kelley's phone. Additionally, according to Minkler, detectives determined that some of the images involved a child in Kelley's care.
Kelley admitted to collecting and distributing child porn because he had a sexual interest in children. He pleaded guilty to charges of production and possession of child pornography.
"Kelley is a child predator who deliberately sought out a high school coaching position intentionally placing himself near children," said Minkler. "The U.S. Attorney's Office is committed to prosecuting individuals, like Kelley, who choose to sexually exploit children and who knowingly abuse positions of public trust."
According to Assistant U.S. Attorney Tiffany Preston, who prosecuted the case, Kelley will serve 20 years supervised release following his prison sentence.
