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ALLEN, Texas - An Allen gymnastics and cheerleading coach was sentenced to 20 years in prison for transporting child pornography.
55-year-old Darren McCoy, who previously taught gymnastics and cheerleading at Metroplex Gymnastics and Swim in Allen, pleaded guilty to recording teens in various stages of undress without their knowledge. He also had other disturbing images of child pornography.
On Tuesday, U.S. District Judge Jeffery V. Brown sentenced McCoy, who lives in McKinney, to 20 years in federal prison, followed by 10 years of supervised release.
During the court hearing, a victim recorded by McCoy and another said she was sexually abused by him from the time she was 12 until the age of 18. McCoy was a gymnastics coach for both of the women.
In 2019, McCoy was on a cruise ship in Galveston when authorities searched his equipment after learning of a prior child pornography investigation from 2015.
Investigators found pornographic images of children on his laptop and phone.
They also found videos on a flash drive, apparently taken with a hidden camera. The videos, which investigators believe were taken about a decade ago, were of teens changing their clothes and showering in a bathroom, a gym and a hotel for a cheerleading competition.
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Overall, authorities found 10 videos and 290 images of child pornography on McCoy's devices.
"Darren McCoy is the definition of a predator," said U.S. Attorney Alamdar S. Hamdani in a statement. "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."
In addition to Metroplex Gymnastics and Swim in Allen, McCoy also previous served as a coach at Top Dog Cheer in Montgomery, Alabama.
Metroplex Gymnastics says that McCoy has not been in the building since early 2020, and that the authorities reassured the gym that none of the images found involved Metroplex students or were taken on Metroplex property.
"[Police] have also assured us that our policies and procedures in place to protect Metroplex students are solid and likely are the reason that no Metroplex students were involved," Metroplex Gymnastics said in a statement to FOX 4.