The former coach of a youth basketball team in Iowa has received a “de facto life sentence” for sexually exploiting more than 400 children over the course of some two decades. On Thursday a federal judge handed down the maximum possible sentence of 180 years to the 43 year old Gregory Stephen, who headed up the Iowa Barnstormers basketball team. Judge C.J. Williams said in the federal court Thursday the damage to some 440 boys and their families is “incalculable and profound."
Stephen had been seen by some of the families involved in the Iowa Barnstormers as a leader, even a role model for their children. As a cofounder of the competitive youth training league, he shepherded hundreds of kids from the ages of around 12 to 17 into the world of basketball.
In the words of prosecutors, Stephen has “destroyed” the lives of hundreds of these same kids, by fondling some of them and amassing scores of pornographic photos and videos of them using hidden cameras and covert means.
Two mothers of victims testified at the federal courthouse in Cedar Rapids during Thursday’s day-long hearing, urging the judge to impose the harshest sentence possible. Their names are being withheld in the interest of their family’s privacy.
“I hope you understand that my son would’ve followed you anywhere,” said one mother. “He believed you held the keys to the basketball kingdom.”
Investigators have confirmation that Stephen physically abused 15 victims, and he amassed child pornography on more than 400 victims.
Handing down his sentence Thursday, Judge C.J. Williams called Stephen’s actions “horrendous," saying he abused the trust of families and used his position of power to groom and exploit his victims.
“I believe he engaged in that work primarily to give him access to victims,” Williams said. From the bench the judge told the parents and family members in the courtroom they should not blame themselves.
“It’s not their fault. As parents we cannot protect our children from everything. These parents did what they could,” he said.
"It's not their fault. As parents we cannot protect our children from everything. These parents did what they could." - Judge C.J. Williams, U.S. Federal Court, Northern District Of Iowa
Through Stephen’s role with the Barnstormers, he gained access to kids, taking them on overnight trips to out of state tournaments and NBA games, or to team vacations at his lake house in Delhi.
He would share beds with boys, photographing their genitalia while they slept. Some of the boys awoke to Stephen fondling or masturbating them. He hid secret cameras in hotel bathrooms to covertly film them while they showered or changed. He also posed as a young woman online, concocting aliases to contact boys and solicit them for nude photos and videos of themselves doing sexual acts. Some of these relationships continued for years, and into adulthood for at least one victim.
Stephen collected scores and scores of photos and videos from these interactions, organizing them into file folders on a computer hard drive, with the name of each victim on a different folder. There are more than 400 file folders. Some contain almost 100 images of a single victim.
The earliest file folders date to 2003, and the most recent is timestamped 2018.
Special Agent Ryan Kedley of the Iowa Department of Public Safety’s Division of Criminal Investigation oversaw the case. Kedley says some of the victims were not aware of the covert filming and their own abuse until investigators approached them. Others hid their abuse for years, never telling their families or law enforcement officers due to “shame and embarrassment."
Kedley says one victim kept his abuse a secret because it was his dream to play college basketball, and he thought reporting the crime might jeopardize that.
“He decided to swallow that experience and not tell anyone,” Kedley said, because the boy saw Stephen as “the gatekeeper to college basketball."
In his prosecution, Assistant U.S. Attorney Clifford Cronk testified that Stephen upended victims’ lives, and his actions can undermine public trust in coaches writ large.
“What destruction this man has caused, the betrayal of these parents, the betrayal of these young boys, repeatedly year after year,” he said. “These kids can’t get their innocence back.”
"I will not allow you any more space in our lives after today. My son will excel not because of you, but in spite of you." - a mother of a victim, whose names are being withheld
Stephen’s legal team asked for mercy and leniency in his case, requesting he receive a sentence of 20 years, with the chance the re-enter society. Stephen’s father said his son “would not be a threat” and would be “more than welcome” back into the community of Monticello, where they live.
Speaking in court, Stephen said he is “ashamed” and “remorseful” of his actions, which he called “disgusting."
“It’s my hope that the people involved can have some sort of closure,” Stephen said. His deepest regrets come from the fact and that his “contributions” to the community are now “tarnished."
In his closing statements from the bench, Williams admonished Stephen for this, saying he should instead regret the “incalculable harm” he has done to children and their families.
Two mothers of victims told Stephen their son’s lives have been fundamentally changed, and spoke of their own heartbreak in realizing the trauma their children experienced without their knowledge. Stephen spending the rest of his life in prison is deserved, they said.
One mother told Stephen now she and her family are reclaiming their lives.
“I will not allow you any more space in our lives after today,” she told Stephen. “My son will excel not because of you, but in spite of you.”
