Royal Oak gymnastics photographer sentenced to 7 years in prison for child porn
ROYAL OAK, Mich. (FOX 2) - A Royal Oak gymnastics photographer will spend years behind bars for distributing child porn after millions of files were found on his devices.
David Eric Yellen, 59, was sentenced to seven years in federal prison and 10 years of parole once he is released from prison.
He was caught sending child porn via peer-to-peer software online last year. Yellen, who both took photos and videos at gymnastics events for years, had more than 2 million files of child porn, along with more than 50,000 photos of bare feet of children who attended the events he was documenting, on his electronic devices.
Yellen was arrested in June 2023, and he pleaded guilty to distribution of child pornography in May of this year.
According to authorities, Yellen denied creating the child porn, but did admit to taking photos of children's feet and pleasuring himself while viewing the images.
"Yellen distributed and possessed an excessive amount of child pornography. Yesterday, he answered for his illegal acts and his egregious breach of trust," said U.S. Attorney Dawn Ison.