Ex-USC men's soccer coach sentenced in child porn case

COLUMBIA, SC (WIS) - A former USC coach was formally sentenced to seven years in prison following his 2015 arrest on child pornography charges.

Roberto Molinary, Jr., 51, of Columbia, was sentenced in federal court for child porn possession.

Per his sentence, United States District Judge Mary Geiger Lewis said his prison time will be followed by supervised release for life and $100.00 special assessment. While on supervised release Molinary will be required to register as a sex offender, participate in a sex offender treatment program, submit to random polygraph examinations, and refrain from contact with minors without prior approval from the U.S. Probation Office.

The evidence presented during a change of plea hearing stated that Molinary was working when a co-worker reported that his department-issued laptop had pornography on it.

After he was confronted about the discovery, Molinary resigned and the laptop was given to law enforcement.

The following investigation revealed that Molinary had established an account on Meetme.com pretending to be a 16-year-old. Molinary targeted 14 to 16-year-old girls to interact with in an effort to obtain pictures or video of the girls naked and/or performing sex acts.

Molinary made "friends" with more than 1,550 minors and participated in almost 9,000 emails with minor females when obtaining the pictures and videos.

A search of the computers at Molinary's residence also revealed that he possessed pictures of minors under the age of 12 engaged in various sex acts.

A federal indictment released during Molinary's initial arrest stated that he obtained the materials between August 2012 and January 2013.

The investigation was conducted by the U.S.C. Police Department, the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division and the Federal Bureau of Investigation. Assistant United States Attorney William E. Day, II of the Columbia office prosecuted the case.

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