Connecticut Swim Program Volunteer Gets 25 Years In Federal Porn Case

PLAINVILLE, CT — A Connecticut man who volunteered at a youth swim program is headed to prison for 25 years in a federal child pornography case that included images secretly obtained from a high school girls locker room, a leading prosecutor said.

Vanessa Roberts Avery, United States attorney for the District of Connecticut and Matthew B. Millhollin, special agent in charge of Homeland Security Investigations in Boston, said that 52-year-old Plainville resident Kyle Fasold was sentenced Friday by U.S. District Judge Michael P. Shea in Hartford to 300 months in prison, followed by 15 years of supervised release, for "child exploitation offenses."

Said Avery, "This defendant’s reprehensible conduct involved a tremendous violation of trust and the ultimate invasion of privacy. The many victims in this case, several of whom provided impact statements to the court and bravely spoke at today's sentencing, will have to manage their trauma for the remainder of their lives. May this sentence serve as fair warning to anyone involved in this type of reprehensible behavior, and anyone who believes that they can engage in illicit dark web activity anonymously. Our law enforcement partners will find you and bring you to justice."

Millhollin said Fasold "betrayed the trust of the families who put their children in his care."

Millhollin added, "I hope this significant sentence brings a measure of justice to those he harmed with his crimes. This case was brought to light by the remarkable work of HSI's cyber investigations. We will not cease in our efforts to track down predators like Fasold who victimize children."

According to court documents and statements made in court, on March 6, 2020, after an investigation revealed that Fasold had uploaded images of child pornography to the dark web, HSI special agents, with the assistance of the Plainville Police Department and Connecticut State Police, executed a court-authorized search of Fasold's residence and seized numerous electronic devices.

Avery said that analysis of the seized devices revealed that between June 2017 and March 2020, Fasold "surreptitiously" recorded images of at least 36 minors, as well as several adults, by placing video-recording devices in locations where he knew people would likely be partially or fully naked, including bathrooms in his residence, the girls locker room at Plainville High School and the bathroom adjacent to the coaches office at PHS.

Fasold edited the videos to produce hundreds of images depicting "lascivious exhibition of the victims' genitals or pubic area," and uploaded numerous images to the dark web, according to case records.

At time of the offense, Fasold was a parent volunteer for a youth recreational swim program in Plainville, according to case records.

Investigators also found on seized devices belonging to Fasold numerous images and videos depicting child sexual abuse that Fasold did not produce, Avery said.

Fasold has been detained since his arrest on March 6, 2020. On Sept. 29, 2022, he pleaded guilty to one count of production of child pornography and one count of distribution of child pornography.