A 56-year-old gymnastics instructor at Top Flight Gymnastics in Columbia pleaded guilty to distribution of child pornography in federal court today, according to the U.S. Attorney’s office.
Paul Bollinger faces a mandatory minimum sentence of five years in prison and a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison for distributing child pornography, the U.S. Attorney’s office said.
The investigation began on May 25 after a detective with the Baltimore County Police Crimes Against Children Unit acquired information regarding the possible distribution of online child pornography, police said.
After detectives served a search warrant on Bollinger’s home, located on the 7600 block of Gladstone Road in Windsor, they recovered numerous digital media storage devices and a computer, police said. They saidthe devices contained over 40,000 images and video of child pornography.
The suspect was taken into custody and charged with possession and distribution of pornography on May 26, police said. After a bail review, Bollinger was held at the Baltimore County Detention Center on $2.5 million bail, police said.
According to the U.S. Attorney’s office, Bollinger was charged in a federal complaint with possessing and distributing child pornography on June 17.
The case was brought by the Department of Justice as part of the Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse, federal officials said.
For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.justice.gov/psc.
— Tracy Smith