A Howard County gymnastics coach previously charged with child pornography in Baltimore County is now facing federal charges.
Paul Daniel Bollinger, 56, of Windsor Mill, was charged Friday with distribution and possession of child pornography.
Last month, Baltimore County police charged Bollinger, who was a longtime instructor Top Flight Gymnastics in Columbia, with similar state charges. Police said at the time of Bollinger's arrest there was not evidence that he had produced any of the pornography.
An attorney for Bollinger could not immediately be reached for comment Friday.
According to an affidavit filed in support of the federal charges, in May, an undercover detective with the county police department downloaded videos containing child pornography that were eventually traced to Bollinger's home in the 7600 block of Gladstone Road.
Investigators later searched the home, finding more than 47,000 images on his computer equipment. Next to Bollinger's bed, detectives found "over 100 pages of handwritten stories about having sex with young female children," the affidavit states.
He allegedly admitted to investigators that he had been involved with child pornography since about 1990.
Throughout Bollinger's home were pictures of young girls in leotards "at what appeared to be competitions or practices," according to the affidavit.
Baltimore County State's Attorney Scott Shellenberger said it is not uncommon for a person facing state charges related to child pornography to also be charged by the federal government.
In such cases, "we typically will defer to the federal government both because they have more resources and because usually they can get longer sentences," he said.
Bollinger is being held on $2.5 million bail at the Baltimore County Detention Center, according to online state court records.
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