| For Immediate Release Case # 08CF1935
July 25, 2008 |
Susan Kang Schroeder Public Affairs Counsel Office: 714-347-8408 Cell: 714-292-2718 Farrah Emami |
ASSISTANT MIDDLE AND HIGH SCHOOL COACH TO BE ARRAIGNED FOR POSSESION OF HUNDREDS OF IMAGES OF CHILD PORNOGRAPHY
SANTA ANA – An assistant coach who worked primarily with boys at the middle and high school level will be arraigned Monday on one felony count of possession and control of child pornography for possessing hundreds of pornographic images of children. Nicholas James Knodle, 21, Orange, faces a maximum sentence of three years in state prison if convicted and is out of custody on $20,000 bail. Knodle is expected to be arraigned Monday, July 28, 2008, at 8:30 a.m. in Department C-55, Central Justice Center, Santa Ana.
In November 2007, the Santa Ana office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) received a complaint that Knodle, an assistant boys’ lacrosse coach at Hewes Middle School, Foothill High School, and Tustin High School, was viewing child pornography on his computer. On Dec. 14, 2007, after a follow-up investigation, a task force known as the Orange County Sexual Assault Felony Enforcement (OC SAFE) Team searched Knodle’s Orange apartment. Knodle is accused of being in possession of several hundred images of child pornography in his home and on his computer. He is accused of primarily possessing pornographic images of young boys who appear to be between the ages of 12 and 18 years old, the same age range as the students he coached.
The OC SAFE Team is a multi-agency federal task force including the FBI, Immigration and Customs Enforcement, and the Orange County Sheriff’s Department. OC SAFE is aimed at preventing Internet crimes against children by targeting online predators and those who posses, produce, or distribute child pornography.
Anyone with additional information or who believes they have been a victim is encouraged to contact Supervising District Attorney Investigator Tim Craig at (714)347-8558.
Deputy District Attorney Robert Mestman of the Sexual Assault Unit is prosecuting this case.
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