Theresa Mitchell, a former gymnastics coach and social media creator, pleaded guilty in federal court Monday to multiple charges involving the sexual exploitation of children.
Per the U.S. Department of Justice, Mitchell admitted to participating in a conspiracy to produce and distribute child pornography between 2023 and 2025.
According to court documents, Mitchell conspired with Christopher Buckeridge to sell sexually explicit images and videos of minors on various social media and subscription-based platforms.
Reported by the DOJ, Buckeridge provided Mitchell with hundreds of files, including material that depicted the sadistic sexual abuse of prepubescent children.
Mitchell reportedly received hundreds of thousands of dollars from the illicit sale of these images and videos before her arrest in Pennsylvania last March.
The former coach now faces a mandatory minimum sentence of 15 years and a maximum of 30 years in prison for the production and conspiracy counts.
According to the Justice Department, Mitchell also faces up to 20 years for additional counts of receipt, possession, and money laundering conspiracy.
A U.S. district judge is scheduled to determine Mitchell’s sentence on Oct. 14, which will also include restitution to victims and sex offender registration.
In a concurrent development, the Justice Department announced Tuesday the release of $25 million in new grant funding to support law enforcement agencies nationwide.
These funds are distributed through the Office of Community Oriented Policing Services and follow nearly $700 million in grant opportunities released in June.
Expressing the department’s commitment to public safety and law enforcement resources, Associate Attorney General Stanley E. Woodward Jr. stated, “The Department of Justice is investing in strategies that reduce crime, hold offenders accountable, and give law enforcement the tools they need to do their jobs”.
The new funding includes $13 million for the Safer Outcomes program, which focuses on enhancing crisis response and de-escalation training for officers.
Another $6 million is dedicated to developing products and resources that uplift the image of the law enforcement profession and advance crime-fighting efforts.
Per DOJ reports, high-priority areas for these resources include investigating human trafficking, child exploitation, and domestic terrorism.
Additionally, $2.5 million will be used to support law enforcement accreditation bodies, while $4.2 million is allocated for the Collaborative Reform Initiative.
The Mitchell case was prosecuted under Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative launched in 2006 to combat child exploitation, per the Department of Justice.
The DOJ also reported recent guilty pleas in similar child exploitation cases involving a Pennsylvania doctor and an Illinois man who engaged in illicit conduct in Nepal.