Repeat offender convicted in Minnesota for possessing child pornography

MINNEAPOLIS — A suburban Twin Cities man, previously convicted of sharing child pornography, was convicted again in federal court Tuesday for possessing similar material.

This conviction resulted from an investigation by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI).

Frank Russell McCoy, 72, of Otsego, Minnesota, was found guilty by a jury of possessing child pornography, following a two-day trial.

For years, McCoy has written and distributed short stories describing extreme sexual abuse and other acts of violence perpetrated against very young children.  In 2013, he was convicted in a Georgia federal court of transporting obscene material, after sending one such story via the Internet to an HSI undercover special agent. 

On Dec. 17, 2013, while McCoy was free on bond pending an appeal of his conviction, a U.S. Probation officer observed large numbers of computers and related equipment in McCoy’s home in Otsego.  A subsequent search of this computer equipment revealed dozens of videos of child exploitation.  Although McCoy had installed forensic-wiping software, which was intended to destroy any evidence of child exploitation images on his computers, the majority of those files had been written onto a portable video player device just before the devices were seized.

McCoy is scheduled to be sentenced April 5, 2016.

This investigation was conducted under HSI’s Operation Predator, an international initiative to protect children from sexual predators. Since the launch of Operation Predator in 2003, HSI has arrested more than 14,000 individuals for crimes against children, including the production and distribution of online child pornography, traveling overseas for sex with minors, and sex trafficking of children. In fiscal year 2015, nearly 2,400 individuals were arrested by HSI special agents under this initiative and more than 1,000 victims identified or rescued.

HSI encourages the public to report suspected child predators and any suspicious activity through its toll-free Tip Line at 1-866-DHS-2-ICE or by completing its online tip form. Both are staffed around the clock by investigators. From outside the U.S. and Canada, callers should dial 802-872-6199. Hearing impaired users can call TTY 802-872-6196.

Suspected child sexual exploitation or missing children may be reported to the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children, an Operation Predator partner, via its toll-free 24-hour hotline, 1-800-THE-LOST.

For additional information about wanted suspected child predators, download HSI’s Operation Predator smartphone app or visit the online suspect alerts page.