Former cheer coach went on a cruise, then border patrol found his child porn, feds say

When a former gymnastics and cheerleading coach disembarked from a Carnival cruise at the Port of Galveston in Texas, authorities said he was sent to a secondary inspection because he had been involved in a prior child exploitation investigation.

Customs and Borden Protection officers inspected his luggage and electronics on Nov. 30, 2019, and found child pornography, according to a May 16 news release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Texas.

Among the images, some showed dead minors — under 8 years old — “in a hospital, mortuary or morgue-type setting,” authorities said.

Darren Frank McCoy’s other electronics were then seized for a more thorough search, according to his signed plea agreement.

Investigators said they found 290 photos and 10 videos that met the definition of child pornography.

McCoy, of McKinney, pleaded guilty on Dec. 1 to transportation of child pornography, records show. In pleading guilty, the former Texas and Alabama coach admitted he had also secretly recorded teenage athletes.

Now, the 55-year-old man has been sentenced to 20 years in prison and 10 years of supervised release.

His defense attorney did not immediately respond to a request for comment from McClatchy News on May 17.

Prosecutors said investigators found videos from about a decade ago that showed teens changing or showering in a bathroom, at a gym and at a hotel during a cheerleading competition in Florida.

“At the hearing, the court heard from one woman whom McCoy recorded while she was a minor. She discussed how her life has been seriously impacted by McCoy’s conduct, describing how he stole her childhood experiences without her even knowing it and that she feels rage, anger and sadness and lack of empathy toward him,” authorities said. “Another victim described how McCoy sexually abused her from the time she was 12 until the age of 18. She detailed how she suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder and anxiety.”

McCoy was their gymnastics coach, according to the release.

“Darren McCoy is the definition of a predator,” U.S. Attorney Alamdar S. Hamdani said in the release. “We encourage our children to engage in sports, believing that they will be safe when doing so. Instead, these athletes were betrayed. This so-called coach surreptitiously recorded teens and sexually abused a minor for several years. Hopefully, knowing the only bars he will see now are behind a federal prison cell will give his victims some long-awaited peace.”

McCoy coached gymnastics and cheerleading at Metroplex Gymnastics and Swim in Allen after coaching cheer at Top Dog Cheer in Montgomery, Alabama, according to the release.

Top Dog Cheer appears to have since closed.

Metroplex Gymnastics and Swim provided the following statement:

“Our mission at Metroplex Gymnastics & Swim is to provide a safe and positive environment in which kids can build positive physical activity habits and contribute overall to their health, happiness, and wellbeing.

We are acutely aware of situations where sport has brought more harm to a child than good. Metroplex takes an extremely proactive approach to both hiring and training staff along with well-established procedures and protocol to ensure every measure is taken to keep our children safe.

Several years ago, a former employee of Metroplex Gymnastics was prosecuted and charged with possession of child pornography. Metroplex was made aware of the investigation by federal law enforcement and worked very closely with them to ensure they received the utmost in cooperation to aid in their investigation. The employee was immediately terminated and has not been in the building since early 2020. The authorities have reassured Metroplex repeatedly that none of the images that were found involved students at Metroplex or on Metroplex property. They have also assured us that our policies and procedures in place to protect Metroplex students are solid and likely are the reason that no Metroplex students were involved. Some of the policies and procedures we have in place are the following:

• Metroplex staff are background checked every year and cleared through NCSI (National Center for Safety Initiatives) with the United State Olympic committee and USA Gymnastics.
• Metroplex Staff must complete the US Center for SafeSport Course every year as a mandatory condition of employment.
• No emplovees are allowed to be alone, one on one with a Metroplex student at any time, on or off Metroplex property.
• Cameras are in place throughout the facility.
• Coaches are trained in the prevention of misconduct as well as warning signs and proper reporting of any suspicion of misconduct. We have several scheduled staff meetings throughout the year based solely on the topic of keeping Metroplex students safe from situations such as this.

We remain steadfast in our mission to create a safe and fun environment for the students and families of Metroplex Gymnastics & Swim.”

This story was originally published May 17, 2023 at 1:05 PM with the headline "Former cheer coach went on a cruise, then border patrol found his child porn, feds say."