GULFPORT — A former volunteer youth coach and ex-police officer has pleaded guilty to receiving and possessing child pornography via computer for the second time in 11 years.
Scott Yancey, 38, of Long Beach entered his plea Tuesday before Senior U.S. District Judge Walter Gex III. Yancey faces 15 to 40 years in prison and a fine of $250,000. Gex set a tentative sentencing date for Feb. 10, 2010.
Yancey still faces prosecution on state charges alleging he molested three boys, ages 10 to 12, whom he helped coach through the Long Beach Recreation League. He also is charged with failing to register as a convicted sex offender.The man later known as “Coach Scott” to Long Beach kids lost his career as a policeman in Gulf Shores, Ala., after his first child-porn conviction on March 5, 1998. He received three years’ probation for that offense.
He stood before the judge Tuesday in a jail uniform with his ankles shackled and hands cuffed and answered the judge’s questions with “yes, sir” and “no, sir.” Two rows on one side of the courtroom were filled with the families of the boys he is accused of molesting.
If the pornography case had gone to trial, the government was prepared to prove that Yancey’s home computer had sexually explicit pictures of young boys and Internet downloads of pornographic videos, said Assistant U.S. Attorney Jay Golden. The prosecutor said an expert was prepared to testify that Yancey has a sexual interest in young boys.
After the hearing, Golden called the prosecution “a significant case about horrible and disgusting things. The unsung heros are Matthew Campbell of the FBI and others who worked this case.”
Yancey has never registered as a convicted sex offender. He lived in Tennessee while on probation and moved to Long Beach in 2005. His attorney, Jim Davis, maintains that neither Tennessee nor Mississippi require registry for pornography convictions.
The pornography conviction from Alabama made local headlines and drew criticism after Yancey’s arrest in Long Beach on the sex-offender registry charge on Nov. 6, 2008.
The molestation trial has been postponed until after sentencing in the federal case. Assistant District Attorney Charlie Wood said Yancey has been offered a plea agreement that could spare the boys from having to testify, but the agreement “depends on the outcome of the federal sentencing.”
Yancey was sentenced in federal court in July to 16 months as a convicted felon in possession of a firearm. The gun was a Glock he bought while he was a police officer. Authorities learned he had kept the gun while they were investigating the molestation charges.
"25% of all sex offenders re-offend within 15 years"
.........Sarah Tofte
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