Former High School Teacher, Swim Coach Sentenced to 30 Years for Child Pornography

KANSAS CITY, Mo. – A former high school teacher and swim team coach was sentenced in federal court today for sexually assaulting and exploiting numerous child victims, whom he secretly videotaped.

James Russell Green, Jr., 54, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Gary A. Fenner to 30 years in federal prison without parole. The court also ordered Green to pay a $10,000 fine and a $10,000 special victim assessment. The federal sentence must be served consecutively to Green’s state sentences in three cases filed in the Jackson County Circuit Court.

Green was formerly a teacher at various middle schools and high schools in the Kansas City metropolitan area. Green was also a head swimming coach at his school and at a Leawood, Kan., swim club.

On Nov. 20, 2018, Green pleaded guilty to one count of producing child pornography and one count of possessing child pornography. Green admitted that he utilized a hidden video camera to produce secret videos of high school boys as they were undressing and/or preparing to shower in the school’s locker room. He also admitted that he utilized a hidden video camera to produce secret videos of child victims engaging in criminal sexual conduct with him at his residence. Green produced these surreptitious videos on multiple occasions over a period of about 20 years, from the late 1990s through approximately 2015. He recorded the videos using an 8-millimeter video camera then later transferred the videos from tape to disc.

Law enforcement officers executed a search warrant at Green’s residence on April 14, 2017. Investigators found video recordings produced by Green using a hidden camcorder in a locker room dressing area. The videos depict numerous unidentified 14- to 17-year-old boys undressing as they prepare to shower. The boys are unaware they are being video recorded. Green produced these videos at the high school where he was a teacher and coach; the boys depicted in the videos were his students and members of his swim team.

During the search of Green’s residence, investigators also located a device that contained an approximately 45-minute video that was also secretly recorded by Green with a hidden camera. The video graphically depicts Green having a sexual encounter with a child victim in his residence.

Forensic examiners located numerous images of child pornography on Green’s electronic devices. Many of the photos appear to be “selfie”-style photos taken by the subjects of the photos. Some of these images appear to have been sent to Green by boys with whom he was acquainted. 

This case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney David Luna. It was investigated by the FBI Child Exploitation Task Force and the Blue Springs, Mo., Police Department.

Project Safe Childhood
This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse. Led by the United States Attorneys' Offices and the Criminal Division's Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state, and local resources to locate, apprehend, and prosecute individuals who sexually exploit children, and to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.usdoj.gov/psc . For more information about Internet safety education, please visit www.usdoj.gov/psc and click on the tab "resources."