Coach arrested on child pornography charge

INDIANAPOLIS - A high school swim coach has admitted hiding video cameras in locker rooms and downloading child pornography, according to federal court documents.\nBrian D. Hindson, 40, of Carmel was arrested and charged with a felony count of possessing computer video files of child pornography, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Indiana said Thursday. If convicted, he could face up to 10 years in prison and a maximum fine of $250,000.\nInvestigators found eight pornographic videos involving children on a hard drive in Hindson’s apartment, court documents state.\n“He didn’t make them, but they’re the kinds of things that get traded on the Internet all the time,” said acting U.S. Attorney Timothy M. Morrison.\nA North Carolina woman who bought an Apple iMac from Hindson also found on the computer a video of a teenage girl changing in a locker room. Hindson told investigators he hid cameras in the locker rooms of Kokomo and Westfield high schools, an affidavit from an FBI agent states.\nMorrison said Hindson was jailed Thursday afternoon. He could not be reached for comment by The Associated Press.\nHis attorney, Greg Stark, did not return several calls seeking comment Thursday.\nThe investigation began in 2006 when an FBI agent talked to two Gastonia, N.C., residents, the affidavit states. A woman told the agent she bought the computer from Hindson for $90, and then found two files that show a girl changing out of a bathing suit and into her clothing.\nThe videos appeared to be made with a camera hidden in a locker.\nThe other Gastonia resident copied the files to the computer’s desktop and placed them in a folder he named “brians going to jail.” They unplugged the computer and contacted the FBI.\nThe Charlotte FBI office contacted the Indianapolis office late last month. A Kokomo police detective determined that the videos were shot in a Kokomo High School locker room.\nInvestigators searched Hindson’s apartment Tuesday and found several computers, as well as digital and video cameras.\n“We have seized a lot of stuff,” Morrison said.\nHe said Hindson was charged for the child pornography found on the hard drive. He has not been charged for the video found on the computer, but the investigation is continuing.\nHindson, who was interviewed after the search, admitted that he downloaded the child pornography using file-sharing software, the affidavit states.\nMorrison said he did not know why it took more than a year for the Charlotte FBI office to contact Indianapolis authorities.\n“We acted on it immediately,” he said.\nAmy Thoreson, a spokeswoman for the FBI’s Charlotte Division, declined to comment.\nHindson has coached at Kokomo and also served as head coach/CEO of Central Indiana Aquatics and as an Indiana Swimming Inc. representative.\nA statement from Kokomo school officials said Hindson has been fired.