Freedom Football Coach Arrested On Child Porn Charges

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CHIPPEWA TOWNSHIP (KDKA) -- The head coach of the Freedom Area Senior High School football team has been arrested for allegedly possessing and distributing child porn.

Officials served a search warrant at 59-year-old J. Russell Barley III's Chippewa Township home Thursday. Barley was home at the time and agreed to speak with investigators.

According to a criminal complaint, Barley said he became curious about child pornography and downloaded videos using BitTorrent.

Barley said he did not share any videos or pictures, but investigators informed Barley that when using BitTorrent, users share downloaded files with other users.

Barley allegedly said he has since deleted many of the videos because he knew what he was doing was wrong.

Police say they found one video of a 14-year-old girl modeling nude on Barley's computer.

In addition to coaching in Freedom, Barley was also a 30-year teacher in the Neshannock Township School District. He has now resigned from both positions.

In a letter, the Freedom Area School District superintendent said: "To our knowledge, no Freedom Area School District students were involved in Mr. Barley's actions. Mr. Barley has been suspended from his position as head coach, effective immediately. He subsequently resigned his position."

Neshannock made a similar statement in a recorded message.

Barley was arrested by state police officials with the Computer Crimes Division and is facing multiple charges, including possession of child pornography.