Youth Swim Program Volunteer Sentenced To 25 Years In Prison For Child Exploitation

A former youth swim program volunteer from Plainville, Connecticut has been sentenced to 25 years in prison after secretly recording numerous young girls undressing and then posting the videos to the dark web.

Kyle Fasold, 52, was sentenced in a Hartford courtroom on Thursday after pleading guilty to producing and distributing child pornography in September. His 300-month prison sentence will be followed by 15 years of supervised release.

According to court documents and statements made in court, an investigation revealed in March 2020 that Fasold had uploaded images of child pornography to the dark web.

HSI special agents executed a court-authorized search of his residence and took numerous electronic devices which revealed he had recorded minors changing for nearly three years.

An analysis of the devices revealed that between June 2017 and March 2020, Fasold recorded at least 36 minors, as well as several adults, by placing video-recording devices in various places he knew minors would likely be partially or fully naked, including the girls’ locker room at Plainville High School, the bathroom next to the coach’s office at the school, and bathrooms in his residence.

He was arrested in March 2020 and initially pleaded not guilty to all charges, but with the offer of a plea agreement that dropped a third charge, Fasold pleaded guilty to one count of production of child pornography and one count of distribution of child pornography in late September.

Fasold admitted to secretly taking more than 2,000 photos and 163 videos of at least 27 minors and 15 adults over the two-and-a-half-year period during which he was a parent volunteer coach with the youth swim program.

He edited the videos to produce hundreds of images and uploaded them to the dark web. Investigators also found a number of images and videos on Fasold’s devices showing child sexual abuse that Fasold did not produce.

Fasold’s arrest and prosecution have rocked the small town of Plainville, which has a population of just over 17,000 as of 2020, particularly shocking the close group of families with whom he worked closely with in the town’s successful youth swim program.

His four-hour sentencing hearing on Thursday saw 11 of his victims and their parents speak. One speaker called him a “monster” who “robbed” children of “their innocence and sense of safety,” according to the Hartford Courant.

“What he has taken from our children and from all of us can never be returned,” one mother said.

“You are a coward in addition to a pedophile. You are sick and you make me sick and you deserve the rest of your life in prison.”

Fasold has been detained since his arrest on March 6, 2020. He is currently seriously injured and a paraplegic after three suicide attempts in prison. He was also been attacked twice in prison while awaiting sentencing.

In imposing the sentence, U.S. District Michael Shea said Fasold’s time in prison will likely be short and painful due to his suicide risk and health problems associated with his paralysis.

U.S. Attorney Nancy Gifford said Fasold’s crimes were particularly onerous because of how he violated the trust of those close to him.

“Fasold’s interest in child pornography was not a momentary indiscretion,’” Gifford said. “He surreptitiously recorded minors for years while leading a double life. He played the role of a devoted father while secretly using his children’s events for his own nefarious behavior. He abused the trust of his family and friends and the broader community.”

Fasold is being sued by more than a dozen of his victims, claiming the recordings have caused them humiliation, emotional trauma, embarrassment, and in certain cases, “permanent psychological scarring.”