Former Iowa AAU coach Greg Stephen detained until federal child porn trial

Luke Nozicka
The Des Moines Register

A former prominent youth basketball coach charged with knowingly transporting child pornography was ordered Wednesday to remain in jail until further court proceedings. 

During a hearing, U.S. Magistrate Kelly Mahoney determined Greg Stephen, the co-founder of the Iowa Barnstormers of the Amateur Athletic Union, poses a danger to the community, federal court records show. 

Greg Stephen, a prominent Iowa basketball coach, was arrested by the FBI on federal child pornography charges on Tuesday, March 13, 2018.

The magistrate made the decision after hearing new evidence that Stephen may have inappropriately touched players during trips out of town, the Gazette in Cedar Rapids reported. Mahoney called the case disturbing, the newspaper reported. 

Stephen, 42, of Monticello, confessed to secretly recording three boys, ages 12, 13 and 14, while naked in a hotel room during a trip to Illinois, according to a criminal complaint unsealed earlier this month. He was arrested by FBI agents March 13.

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

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

When interviewed by authorities in late February, Stephen admitted to making the videos found on a USB recording device, according to the complaint. But Stephen told investigators he made the videos only to observe the "growth and development" of the players.

A former Barnstormers player told the Register that Stephen had masturbated next to him in bed. Stephen coached a team comprised mostly of 15- and 16-year-old boys but was involved with every boy in the club as the organization's co-director.

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