MCKINNEY, Texas – A 55-year-old McKinney man has been sentenced to 20 years in prison for transportation of child pornography, the United States Department of Justice announced Tuesday.
Darren Frank McCoy pleaded guilty on Dec. 1, 2022, admitting he was previously a gymnastics and cheerleading coach in Texas and Alabama. According to U.S. Attorney Alamdar S. Hamdani, McCoy recorded teens while they were undressed without their knowledge or consent. He also unlawfully transported the images and videos, as well as disturbing images of child pornography, investigators said.
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U.S. District Judge Jeffery V. Brown ordered McCoy to serve a total of 240 months in federal prison, which will be immediately followed by 10 years of supervised release.
At the hearing, the court heard from one woman who was allegedly recorded by McCoy, who was her coach, when she was a minor. The victim said her life has been “seriously impacted” by McCoy’s actions and she described how he stole her childhood experiences without her even knowing it. The woman told the court she feels “rage, anger and sadness and lack of empathy toward him,” a news release said.
Another victim said McCoy sexually abused her from the time she was 12 until she was 18 years old. The victim said she suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder and anxiety.
“Darren McCoy is the definition of a predator,” said Hamdani. “We encourage our children to engage in sports, believing that they will be safe when doing so. Instead, these athletes were betrayed. This so-called coach surreptitiously recorded teens and sexually abused a minor for several years. Hopefully, knowing the only bars he will see now are behind a federal prison cell will give his victims some long-awaited peace.”
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On Nov. 30, 2019, investigators said McCoy had been on a cruise ship that docked at the Galveston Port of Entry. Authorities sent him to a secondary inspection after learning of a prior child pornography investigation from 2015. During the inspection, authorities said they found images of child pornography on his laptop, which led them to take his other electronic devices, including his phone which allegedly had numerous pornographic images.
Investigators said they also found nine videos on McCoy’s flash drive, which appeared to be taken with a hidden camera. These videos, which appeared to be taken approximately a decade ago, were of teens changing their clothes or showering in a residential bathroom, a gym and at a hotel for a cheerleading competition, the news release said.
A search of McCoy’s McKinney residence allegedly led authorities to discover two recording devices that weren’t easily identified. Through the investigation, law enforcement officials said they learned McCoy was a gymnastics and cheerleading coach at Metroplex Gymnastics and Swim in Allen and had previously been a coach at Top Dog Cheer in Montgomery, Alabama.
Authorities said they found 10 videos and 290 images of child pornography on McCoy’s devices. His collection included children between the ages of 1 and 8 that were undressed in a hospital, mortuary or morgue-type setting, DOJ said.
McCoy will remain in custody pending transfer to a U.S. Bureau of Prisons facility to be determined in the near future.
Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) – Galveston conducted the investigation with the assistance of police departments in Galveston and Pearland, Customs and Border Protection and HSI – Dallas.
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