A federal judge has ordered a Howard County gymnastics coach to remain behind bars pending trial on child pornography charges, writing in a court filing that "the danger to the community is obvious."
U.S. Magistrate Judge J. Mark Coulson signed the order detaining 56-year-old Paul Daniel Bollinger on Tuesday, court records show. Bollinger, of Windsor Mill, was charged in federal court last week with distribution and possession of child pornography. The longtime instructor at Top Flight Gymnastics in Columbia faces similar state charges in Baltimore County.
Authorities allege that investigators found more than 47,000 images of "child pornography, child modeling and child erotica" on Bollinger's computer equipment.
In a detention order, Coulson wrote that "despite [Bollinger's] self-described uncontrollable obsession, he did not seek out any treatment but instead deliberately chose an occupation which placed him in close contact with minor children in his preferred age range over more than 25 years as a gymnastics instructor."
Coulson wrote that he had reviewed e-mails from families of children who were coached by Bollinger, describing fears of those children if Bollinger were released. The emails were not included in public court filings because of privacy concerns.
Bollinger's attorney, Charles L. Waechter, could not be reached for comment Wednesday.
Charles Fuller, an attorney representing Top Flight, said that Bollinger had previously passed background checks, and the school had not received complaints of any inappropriate behavior.
"We had no reports prior to this of any incident," Fuller said.
Federal prosecutors said Wednesday their investigation is continuing. They asked anyone with information to call the FBI at 410-265-8080 or Homeland Security Investigations at 1-866-DHS-2ICE.
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