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."

KANSAS CITY, Mo. – A former high school teacher and swim team coach has been indicted by a federal grand jury for sexually exploiting seven minor victims.

James Russell Green, Jr., 53, of Blue Springs, Mo., was charged in a nine-count indictment returned under seal by a federal grand jury in Kansas City, Mo., on Tuesday, May 1, 2018. That indictment was unsealed and made public today upon Green’s arrest and initial court appearance. Green remains in federal custody pending a detention hearing.

Green was formerly a teacher at Oak Park High School and several middle schools in the North Kansas City School District and at Blue Springs South High School. Green was also a head swimming coach in those school districts and at Hallbrook Country Club in Leawood, Kan.

Green is charged with secretly recording illicit sexual encounters with at least six of his child victims. Court documents allege he engaged in the sexual contact and exploitation of minors over a period of at least 20 years.

The federal indictment alleges that Green attempted to entice one of his victim’s, identified as Minor Victim 1, to engage in illegal sexual activity between Nov. 1, 2016, and April 9, 2017.

The indictment also charges Green with one count of producing child pornography involving a 13-year-old victim, identified as Minor Victim 2, between Dec. 25, 2013, and March 31, 2014. Green is charged with six counts of attempting to produce child pornography, involving four additional minor victims, in February 2014. The indictment also charges Green with one count of possessing child pornography (including a video he allegedly produced of a seventh minor victim) on April 14, 2017.

Court documents allege that Green produced images and videos of child pornography and engaged (or attempted to engage) in sexual encounters with several minor victims on numerous occasions over a period of 20 years, ending in 2017. Law enforcement officers executed a search warrant at Green’s residence on April 14, 2017, and seized videos that allegedly were secretly recorded by Green with a hidden video camera. These videos, which depict several nude minors (from 14 to 17 years old) undressing and/or preparing to shower, were recorded beginning in the late 1990s until approximately 2014 or 2015. These videos, according to court documents, are the basis for the six attempted production counts of the indictment.

During the search of Green’s residence, according to court documents, 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 Minor Victim 2 in his residence. Green allegedly can be heard encouraging the minor victim to recruit other minors for sexual activity. This video recording is the basis for the production count of the indictment.

Investigators also located another video recording on one of Green’s devices, according to court documents. The video, also taken secretly with a hidden camera, graphically depicts Green having a sexual encounter with a different minor victim. This video is one of several images of child pornography that are the basis for the possession count of the indictment.

According to court documents, numerous other images of child pornography were also located on Green’s computer and media storage devices. Some of the images appear to have been downloaded from the Internet, but other images appear to have been sent to Green by minors with whom he was acquainted. Numerous sexually graphic chats that Green saved were also discovered on some of his media devices, according to court documents. In some chats, Green allegedly solicited sexual encounters with persons who identified themselves as minors. Pornographic images allegedly were exchanged via chats with apparent underage victims.

The charges contained in this indictment are simply accusations, and not evidence of guilt. Evidence supporting the charges must be presented to a federal trial jury, whose duty is to determine guilt or innocence.

This case is being 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."