COBB COUNTY, Ga. — A longtime soccer coach who often supervises young girls is behind bars after he was swept up in a child pornography sweep.
Acworth police say information from an Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force led their detectives to a Cobb County apartment complex, where they seized computers belonging to Mike Shaner. An arrest warrant says detectives found dozens of images and seven videos of suspected child pornography.
Shaner’s social media profiles list him as a soccer coach affiliated with the Marietta-based Southern Soccer Academy, a group boasting some 500 youth teams in various age categories.
Shaner's posts show he often coaches teams of young girls.
Soccer Academy officials told Channel 2’s Ross Cavitt they were shocked by the arrest. They said they do background checks on anyone associated with the soccer academy, and police say the discovery of the items on his computer does not necessary mean there's been any contact with the kids he’s coached.
Parents say it’s an example of how they should start asking questions any time their kids spend time being supervised by other adults.
"If you have to drop them off and have to leave them there for an extended period of time, that's when you have to question who is watching your kids,” said parent Emily Click.
Shaner is in jail without bond.
WSBTV
