A youth gymnastics photographer from Oakland County has been ordered to spend seven years in federal prison followed by a lengthy period on probation for distributing child pornography.
Charged after the FBI searched his house and reportedly found more than two million files of child pornography on his electronic devices, David Eric Yellen, 59, of Royal Oak pleaded guilty last May. His sentence, handed down Tuesday by United States District Judge Sean F. Cox, includes 10 years of supervised release for Yellen after he completes his time in prison.
According to the Department of Justice, the case against Yellen emerged after the FBI discovered he was distributing child porn over the internet by using peer-to-peer file sharing software. Yellen worked as a photographer and videographer at various gymnastics academies and events in the last several years, the DOJ stated.
Along with the child pornography, the FBI found more that 50,000 photographs of bare feet of children who had attended the events and academies where Yellen worked, the DOJ stated.
“Yellen distributed and possessed an excessive amount of child pornography. Yesterday, he answered for his illegal acts and his egregious breach of trust,” U.S. Attorney Dawn Ison stated in a news release issued Wednesday.
Addd Cheyvoryea Gibson, special agent in charge of the FBI in Michigan: “Distribution of child sexual abuse materials by anyone, especially an individual who is entrusted to work with and around our youth, is intolerable and will be investigated by members from the FBI in Michigan.”