Gymnastics Photographer Jailed for Secretly Taking Photos of Kids

A gymnastics photographer has been jailed for distributing child pornography and secretly taking over 50,000 images of children’s feet at the sports events he worked at.

On Tuesday, gymnastics photographer David Eric Yellen from Michigan, Detroit, was sentenced to seven years in prison for the distribution of child pornography.

According to law enforcement officials, Yellen had been a well-known figure in the Michigan gymnastic community. The 59-year-old was regularly employed as a photographer and videographer at several gymnastics academies and events over the years.

However, Yellen’s involvement with child pornography came to light when the FBI discovered his photos on the internet where the images were being distributed using peer-to-peer file-sharing software.

When the FBI searched Yellen’s house in June 2023, they found found 56,000 photos of the bare feet of children who attended gymnastics events and practices, with some photos that zoomed in to show the outline of the children’s genitals visible through their leotards, according to the Detroit Free Press.

“Yellen meticulously saved and cataloged these pictures in folders under each gymnast’s name… Agents ultimately found approximately 1,100 such folders in gymnasts’ names, which included over 50,000 pictures,” prosecutors write in their sentencing memorandum for the photographer. “The folders included pictures of several gymnasts, some as young as three to five years old,”

Detroit Free Press reports that prosecutors say that Yellen became a gymnastics photographer knowing he had a sexual desire for children and “earned the trust of girls who were too young and too innocent to perceive his apparent kindness as a strategic tactic to gain access to their lives for his own benefit.”

FBI agents also found two million files of child pornography on Yellen’s electronic devices.

Yellen was arrested and indicted on charges of distribution of child pornography and possession of child pornography. Last week, Yellen was sentenced to seven years in prison as well as 10 years of supervised release upon release from prison.

“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 says in a statement on Wednesday.

 
Image credits: Header photo licensed via Depositphotos.