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LancasterOnline.com:News:Former swim coach here charged with child porn
A hall-of-fame swimmer and widely respected aquatics coach who left the county to teach deaf children in Scranton has been charged with possessing and disseminating child pornography.
Steven J. Oatman, a 1994 Hempfield High School graduate who coached youths in the Lancaster Aquatic Club as recently as August 2007, allegedly had hundreds of pornographic images of children on his home computer.
Oatman, who lives in Clarks Summit, has been suspended from his job as a teacher at the Scranton State School for the Deaf, according to The Times-Tribune newspaper.
He had previously taught deaf and hard-of-hearing students in Lancaster County with Intermediate Unit 13.
The 32-year-old faces 17 counts of having or distributing child porn, court records show.
He waived his right to a preliminary hearing in Lackawanna County earlier this month and remains free after posting $20,000 bail, according to court records. Oatman has an unpublished phone number and could not be reached for comment today.
Court records indicate his trial begins April 17.
Members of the local swimming community who knew Oatman said they were shocked when they heard of the allegations, and they added that Oatman was well respected by his fellow coaches, parents and swimmers he instructed.
"He was such a positive influence on young people," said a former treasurer for the aquatic club, Nicole Putt, of Strasburg.
"This other side — it took our whole family by surprise. He was like a part of our family. I cannot say anything negative about the guy."
Prosecutors told The Times-Tribune the charges are the result of an online investigation in which Oatman allegedly sent pornographic images of children to an undercover agent.
Deputy Lackawanna County District Attorney Michelle Olshefski told the newspaper Oatman used an Internet file-sharing program to send the images, and that authorities traced the files back to him using his Internet Protocol address.
IP addresses are unique strings of numbers that identify computers and other devices.
Authorities searched Oatman's home in December and found hundreds of pornographic images showing children, Olshefski told the Scranton newspaper.
The charges stunned members of the swimming community here because they are "totally uncharacteristic of him," said one member, who did not want to be identified.
Oatman, aside from being a good coach, was an accomplished swimmer. In 2002, he was inducted into the Susquehanna Valley Chapter of the Pennsylvania Sports Hall of Fame after winning the Courageous Athlete Award.
Oatman was diagnosed with profound hearing loss at age 2 and yet excelled at Hempfield High School, Toledo University and Indiana University of Pennsylvania. He earned a bachelor's degree in education at Indiana.
While in college, Oatman competed in NCAA Division II championships and was on the men's 800-meter freestyle relay team that won top honors in 1998. He was on the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference all-conference team in 1997 and 1998 and was Indiana's most valuable swimmer in 1995.
He competed in the World Games for the Deaf in Bulgaria and was part of the record-setting 800 freestyle relay team.
A hall-of-fame swimmer and widely respected aquatics coach who left the county to teach deaf children in Scranton has been charged with possessing and disseminating child pornography.
Steven J. Oatman, a 1994 Hempfield High School graduate who coached youths in the Lancaster Aquatic Club as recently as August 2007, allegedly had hundreds of pornographic images of children on his home computer.
Oatman, who lives in Clarks Summit, has been suspended from his job as a teacher at the Scranton State School for the Deaf, according to The Times-Tribune newspaper.
He had previously taught deaf and hard-of-hearing students in Lancaster County with Intermediate Unit 13.
The 32-year-old faces 17 counts of having or distributing child porn, court records show.
He waived his right to a preliminary hearing in Lackawanna County earlier this month and remains free after posting $20,000 bail, according to court records. Oatman has an unpublished phone number and could not be reached for comment today.
Court records indicate his trial begins April 17.
Members of the local swimming community who knew Oatman said they were shocked when they heard of the allegations, and they added that Oatman was well respected by his fellow coaches, parents and swimmers he instructed.
"He was such a positive influence on young people," said a former treasurer for the aquatic club, Nicole Putt, of Strasburg.
"This other side — it took our whole family by surprise. He was like a part of our family. I cannot say anything negative about the guy."
Prosecutors told The Times-Tribune the charges are the result of an online investigation in which Oatman allegedly sent pornographic images of children to an undercover agent.
Deputy Lackawanna County District Attorney Michelle Olshefski told the newspaper Oatman used an Internet file-sharing program to send the images, and that authorities traced the files back to him using his Internet Protocol address.
IP addresses are unique strings of numbers that identify computers and other devices.
Authorities searched Oatman's home in December and found hundreds of pornographic images showing children, Olshefski told the Scranton newspaper.
The charges stunned members of the swimming community here because they are "totally uncharacteristic of him," said one member, who did not want to be identified.
Oatman, aside from being a good coach, was an accomplished swimmer. In 2002, he was inducted into the Susquehanna Valley Chapter of the Pennsylvania Sports Hall of Fame after winning the Courageous Athlete Award.
Oatman was diagnosed with profound hearing loss at age 2 and yet excelled at Hempfield High School, Toledo University and Indiana University of Pennsylvania. He earned a bachelor's degree in education at Indiana.
While in college, Oatman competed in NCAA Division II championships and was on the men's 800-meter freestyle relay team that won top honors in 1998. He was on the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference all-conference team in 1997 and 1998 and was Indiana's most valuable swimmer in 1995.
He competed in the World Games for the Deaf in Bulgaria and was part of the record-setting 800 freestyle relay team.