Former Iowa AAU coach appears in federal court on child porn charge

A prominent youth basketball coach in Iowa was arrested Tuesday by the FBI and charged in federal court with knowingly transporting child pornography.

Greg Stephen, the co-founder of the Iowa Barnstormers of the Amateur Athletic Union, appeared in court in Cedar Rapids wearing a Barnstormers T-shirt and jeans Tuesday afternoon, the Associated Press reported. Stephen was handcuffed and shackled and was ordered detained until a hearing Thursday on whether he should be released before trial.

A criminal complaint unsealed Tuesday alleges Stephen, 42, of Monticello confessed to secretly recording three boys, ages 12, 13 and 14, naked in a hotel room during a trip to Illinois. The FBI arrested Stephen on Tuesday, according to court records.

If convicted, he faces between five and 20 years in prison, a $250,000 fine and at least five years of supervised release following imprisonment.

The Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation received a warrant Feb. 21 for a USB recording device belonging to Stephen and received and executed warrants for Stephen's homes, vehicles and person the next day.

Investigators seized a total of 34 items from Stephen's two homes, including multiple computers, cell phones, hard drives, security cameras and additional USB recording devices.

When interviewed by DCI agents Feb. 22, Stephen admitted to making the videos found on a USB recording device, according to the criminal complaint, which was signed by DCI special agent Ryan Kedley. But Stephen told investigators that he made the videos only to observe the "growth and development" of the players.

"Stephen also indicated he was looking at how much taller the kids were going to get and how developed they were," the complaint states. "Stephen then acknowledged there had been some nudity captured on the videos he had made."

According to the complaint, Stephen said part of his observations about the boys' development was of their genitalia and body hair. He said he had never made any sort of sexual advances toward his players, current or former, the complaint states.

"In response to a question asking Stephen whether he was aroused while viewing the videos, Stephen stated, 'Maybe a little bit,'" the complaint states. He allegedly told investigators he was aroused "in the same way you would be aroused when you view anyone naked."

The videos of the three boys were taken in a hotel room in Lombard, Illinois, during a January trip where Stephen took them to watch a Chicago Bulls basketball game.

He said he believed the boys were not aware he was recording them and that "he had made these videos on a whim, thinking he could go back and look at the videos." He acknowledged it was "dumb" to record the videos, the complaint states.

Investigators say they also found a video clip on a USB recording device of another boy disrobing in a bathroom in Ankeny. In all, "more than one hundred video clips" were found on the device, including folders with names of three of the boys.

Agents also conducted an interview with a boy who was a Barnstormers player in the summer of 2016 when he said he went on a trip to Las Vegas with Stephen and two other Barnstormers players. Stephen shared a bed with the boy in their hotel room while the other two boys slept on the floor in the same room, the boy allegedly told investigators.

During the night, the boy said he woke to the comforter he was sleeping under shaking up and down, and he said he believed Stephen had been masturbating in the bed beside him, the complaint states.

Authorities were first approached Feb. 18 by Stephen's former brother-in-law, who was contracted to do some work on Stephen's home. He told Monticello police that while he was at Stephen's house on Feb. 15, he found what appeared to be a plug-in USB charging device capable of recording video.

The contractor was suspicious because he found the device in Stephen's bathroom and because he said he had previously found photos of naked boys in Stephen's possession. He did not tell anyone about those photos at the time.

The contractor said he took the device home and viewed some of the files, which showed boys disrobing and on which he could hear Stephen's voice, according to the complaint. Stephen was allegedly "frantic" when he found out the device was missing.

The contractor returned to Stephen's house Feb. 16 and found that one of the boys who appeared in the recordings had stayed the night, the complaint states. Stephen told investigators that another boy, currently in seventh grade, was also at his home later that afternoon.

The contractor turned the device over to Monticello police Feb. 19, a day after he first approached police about what he had found, according to the complaint.

Barnstormers players range in age from fifth- to 12th-grade boys and seventh- to 11th-grade girls. The club has been the top high school-level boys AAU team in the state for the past several years.

Stephen coached a team composed mostly of 15- and 16-year-old boys. But as the organization's co-director, he was involved with every boy in the club.

On Feb. 22, after learning of the investigation into Stephen, the club tweeted that Stephen would no longer be affiliated with the organization, effective immediately. The club has said it intends to keep operating.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.