Prominent Michigan gymnastics photographer pleads guilty in federal child porn case

An Oakland County photographer and videographer who was accused of possessing and distributing child pornography pleaded guilty to one of the charges this week in federal court.

David Eric Yellen, 59, of Royal Oak, was arrested June 1 and indicted later that month in U.S. District Court on the charges of distribution of child pornography and possession of child pornography.

He pleaded guilty Wednesday in Detroit to one count of distribution of child pornography, according to a plea agreement filed in federal court. He is scheduled for sentencing Sept. 20.

Per the plea agreement, the count requires a mandatory minimum of 60 months, or five years, in prison. Yellen also will have to register as a sex offender, it states. The U.S. Attorney's Office stated in a news release Thursday afternoon that his sentence, which could be up to 20 years in prison, will be followed by supervised release of at least five years and up to life.

Federal authorities previously said Yellen was well-known in the gymnastics community and was contracted by multiple gymnastics academies in the Michigan area. He also was contracted by the U.S. Women’s Gymnastics Judges Association to create training materials and training films for new judges, they said, and he traveled nationally as a gymnastics photographer and videographer.

Yellen's attorney, Margaret Raben, said Thursday that she was not going to comment on Yellen's case at this time.

U.S. Attorney Dawn Ison stated in her office's release that Yellen's conduct "was aggravated because of his position of trust in the gymnastics community with youth gymnasts and their parents."

The case began to surface May 11, 2023, during an investigation related to BitTorrent, a peer-to-peer file-sharing program that is sometimes used to exchange child pornography, according to a criminal complaint filed last year in federal court.

Per the complaint, an FBI agent identified a computer as a potential download candidate because 14 files of investigative interest — that is, a file associated with keywords or material consistent with the federal definition of child pornography — were observed.

The agent downloaded images consistent with names used for files containing child pornography. Thirteen files downloaded from an IP address appeared to depict minor children engaged in sexually explicit conduct, according to the complaint. It stated the IP address was assigned to Yellen at his home.

A search warrant was executed at Yellen's home June 1, 2023. Yellen was interviewed and admitted that he possessed child pornography on his electronic devices in the home, according to the complaint.

It stated Yellen said he used BitTorrent regularly, but denied uploading or downloading child pornography. He claimed he downloaded child pornography 10 years ago, retained that child pornography and did not know the child pornography that he continued to possess was available for download by others, according to the complaint.

The plea agreement states Yellen possessed images of "prepubescent minor and minors under 12, sadistic and masochistic images" and that he had more than 600 images of child pornography.

The criminal complaint stated Yellen denied producing child pornography, but said he often surreptitiously photographed the bare feet of children at the gymnastics academy where he was employed and at gymnastics events he attended as an official photographer and that he found the images sexually arousing.

The complaint also stated a hard drive contained a folder called “BFK.” During an interview, Yellen said that stood for “Barefoot Kids,” according to the complaint. It stated the folder contained at least 200 images of the bare feet of children who attended his gym and gymnastics events.

Contact Christina Hall: chall@freepress.com. Follow her on Twitter: @challreporter.

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This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Michigan gymnastics photographer pleads guilty to child porn charge