Ex-coach posed as girl on Facebook to get nude photos of boys

A former Johnson County coach pleaded guilty today to one count of producing child pornography.

Michael T. Cowley, a 38-year-old Shawnee man, admitted that he posed as a 19-year-old girl named “Ashley” on Facebook and traded a photo of a naked girl that he found on the Internet to young boys in exchange for nude photos of the boys. Oh, and he tried to convince them to engage “in sexual activities,” too.

Prosecutors say Cowley was an employee of the Olathe School District,

teaching a computer class at Brentwood Elementary School in Overland

Park. He also coached boys’ baseball and basketball teams and drove a

bus for the California Trail Junior High in Olathe.

Cowley also worked at the Jewish Community Center, directing a summer

sports camp for first through sixth graders (boys and girls).

In February, the Johnson County Sheriff’s Office received a tip that a

13-year-old boy in Battle Ground, Washington, had traded nude photos

with a Facebook user who claimed to be a 19-year-old girl named

“Ashley” in Overland Park, Kansas. A total of 11 children reported to police that they received nude photos of “Ashley” — and seven boys told police that they sent nude photos of themselves to “Ashley.”

Prosecutors say “Ashley” had 696 friends on Facebook, and among them

were children from sports teams coached by Cowley. Investigators traced

the account back to Cowley through Internet accounts. A search of Cowley’s home turned up nude photos of boys and girls as well as photos of minors engaged in sexual acts.

Cowley’s sentencing is scheduled for January 11, 2010. He faces between 15 and 30 years in federal prison.