Iowa Youth Basketball Coach Admits to Sexually Exploiting 400 Boys

A prominent youth basketball coach in Iowa admitted this week to sexually exploiting 400 young boys.

Greg Stephen, the co-founder of the Iowa Barnstormers basketball development program, admitted last week to a variety of sex crimes involving his young athletes. The crimes include possessing and transporting child pornography as well as sexually exploiting minors.

Stephen’s Barnstormers team was a feeder program for young athletes, ages nine to 17, looking to develop the skills to play basketball at the collegiate level. The program was so successful that Stephen was able to secure sponsorships from big brands like Adidas.

Stephen’s crimes were uncovered when his brother-in-law made some unusual discoveries when he was remodeling a room in Stephen’s home. Stephen ultimately admitted to placing hidden cameras around his house, which he used to take sexually explicit photos of the young athletes in his program.

He admitted to owning a hard drive that contained 400 folders of sexually explicit photos and videos of children in his program. He also admitted to using fake social media accounts with pictures of young women to lure young men into sending him explicit photos.

Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation Special Agent Ryan Kedley said that they expect to hear from more victims. “If people are still wishing to discuss this case or things that they’ve observed or experienced during their time as a Barnstormer or just things that they think could be tied to this investigation, our phone lines are always open for that,” Kedley said.

Stephen could face up to 120 years in prison. Stephen’s case is similar to the case of Larry Nassar, a former doctor at the University of Michigan who admitted to molesting hundreds of young female gymnasts over the past two decades. Nassar is currently serving a 175-year prison sentence a federal prison.