Innocent family photos or child porn? Investigators face tricky case

MSU-Mankato football coach Todd Hoffner faces child porn charges over videos of his children in the nude that showed up on his university-issued cell phone. Hoffner's lawyer and wife say there's nothing pornographic about the family photos. Legal experts say what the children tell investigators may be the key to the case.

Author:: BMTN Staff
Publish date:: Aug 27, 2012

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MSU-Mankato football coach Todd Hoffner faces child porn charges over videos of his children in the nude that showed up on his university-issued cell phone. Hoffner's lawyer and wife say there's nothing pornographic about the family photos. Legal experts say what the children tell investigators may be the key to the case.

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His lawyer says a Blue Earth County investigation has turned up no evidence that MSU-Mankato football coach Todd Hoffner used his children in a child porn performance. Hoffner is asking the county attorney to drop the child porn charges that were filed after a video of his children dancing in the nude was found on his university-issued cell phone.

Suspended MSU-Mankato football coach Todd Hoffner has a court hearing this week at which a judge will consider dropping the child porn charges. The case involves videos of Hoffner's children in the nude that were found on his university-issued cell phone. He asked the Blue Earth County Attorney to drop the charges after investigators found no child porn on his computer and determined his children had not been abused.

Prosecutors have filed child pornography charges against the football coach at Minnesota State University-Mankato. According to the criminal complaint, Todd Hoffner's university-issued cell phone contained three videos of his children in the nude. He's charged with using minors in a sexual performance. Hoffner's attorney says there's nothing abusive or exploitative about the videos.

Todd Hoffner

Blue Earth County authorities say Todd Hoffner is at the center of a child pornography investigation. A sheriff's department captain tells the Mankato Free Press Hoffner was arrested when investigators arrived at his Eagle Lake home with a search warrant. He says investigators are looking into the possible use of minors in a sexual performance.

Blue Earth County Sheriff's officials say they have found no evidence of child pornography on the home computer of a Minnesota State University-Mankato coach charged with child pornography. Todd Hoffner is facing child pornography charges stemming from videos of his own children found on his cell phone last month.

Suspended MSU-Mankato football coach Todd Hoffner testified Wednesday about the origin of a video that helped land him in court defending himself against child porn charges. Hoffner says his three kids - all younger than ten - made up a dance routine while in the jacuzzi and then asked him to videotape it. Hoffner says there's nothing pornographic about it and he's asking a judge to throw out the case against him. Law enforcement officers testified, though, that the video and two others on Hoffner's cell phone were disturbing enough that they brought them to the attention of the county attorney.

Todd Hoffner

A professional therapist and a family pediatrician have come to the defense of a Mankato football coach facing child pornography charges, the Star Tribune reports. The therapist viewed cellphone videos of Todd Hoffner and his naked children and concluded that he was "engaged in healthy play” with them. A court hearing is scheduled for Wednesday in Blue Earth County District Court.

The wife of Minnesota State-Mankato football coach Todd Hoffner, accused in a case of child pornography involving their children, says she supports her husband and blasts the charges against him. Hoffner, 46, was charged last week with videotaping his three children nude. "The charges against my husband are ridiculous and baseless," Melodee Hoffner said.