Fake girls’ soccer recruiter in Fort Worth received over 600 child porn images, feds say
A fake girls’ soccer college recruiter who lived in Fort Worth owned a computer which received more than 600 child pornography images and videos, according to federal court documents.
Michael Ansley Twing, a registered sex offender who also went by the name “Michael Krogen,” pleaded guilty last week to a federal charge of receipt of child pornography.
Twing, 43, of Fort Worth, was charged via criminal complaint on May 18.
He faces up to 40 years in federal prison. His sentencing has been set for Oct. 21 before U.S. District Judge Reed O’Connor in Fort Worth.
The Fort Worth resident was already a registered sex offender based on a previous offense in Amarillo, Texas.
The criminal complaint against Twing provided this information:
Fort Worth Detective William Maddox began an undercover investigation to locate users sharing child pornography files on the internet.
Maddox tracked down an address and a subscriber name for Michael Twing. His investigation later revealed five other law enforcement agencies investigating the same address from Nov. 9, 2021, to April 5. One of those reports was made by Detective Brandon Pope with the Grand Prairie Police Department.
According to federal court documents, Twing acquired sexually explicit images of underage girls on his laptop. The files were downloaded via eMule, a file-sharing program similar to BitTorrent.
Federal authorities served a search warrant at Twing’s Fort Worth home on May 12, locating a laptop that contained the child pornography. Files indicated that Twing had used the computer.
At a detention hearing, federal prosecutors introduced evidence showing that Twing had been posing as a recruiter for a local university under the name “Michael Krogen.”
Federal officials, who did not identify the university, said in a news release that there was no evidence of wrongdoing by the university, which is cooperating fully with the investigation.
In his bedroom, agents recovered a note on university letterhead in which Twing, writing under his alias, claimed to be a recruiter. They also found a roster of high school soccer players and identified at least one text in which Twing asked a coach for contact info for a student.
Authorities asked residents that if anyone was aware of a juvenile who may have had inappropriate contact with Twing, who also went by “Michael Krogen” or “Christopher Michael Crogen,” at a soccer tournament or elsewhere to please contact Crimestoppers at 817-469-8477 or www.469TIPS.com
Federal officials described Twing as about 6-foot-2 and 195 pounds with dark blond hair, blue eyes and glasses.
The U.S. Secret Service’s Dallas Field Office conducted the investigation with the assistance of the Texas Department of Public Safety’s Hurst Special Investigations Unit, the Fort Worth Police Department’s Internet Crimes Against Children and Sex Offender Investigations Units, the Grand Prairie Police Department, and the U.S. Marshals Service Fugitive Task Force.
