By Renee Winkler
Courier-Post [Camden]
May 13, 2006
http://www.courierpostonline.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=2006605130370
A former religion teacher and coach of several athletic teams at St. Joseph's High School in Hammonton was sentenced Friday to four years in federal prison for possessing as many as 300 images of child pornography.
Michael McColgan, 35, of Fay Ann Drive in the Blackwood section of Gloucester Township, was arrested in 2005 after he e-mailed to an undercover FBI agent an image showing the rape of a young girl. Investigators said the child in that photo appeared to be about 6 years old.
In sentencing McColgan, U.S. District Judge Robert Kugler recommended he be sent to a prison with a therapy and counseling program for sex offenders.
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| Michael McColgan |
McColgan will not have to report to prison until after mid-June, the anticipated closing date for the sale of his home.
McColgan had taught at the Catholic high school in Hammonton for eight years and coached seven sports teams, for both boys and girls, said his attorney, Robert Agre.
"He's a first offender. With proper counseling he can return to the community and contribute in a very meaningful manner," Agre said.
"My husband is not a criminal," said Tamara McColgan, the former teacher's wife of three years.
"This is just a horrible mistake. This charge is completely outrageous," she said.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Jacqueline Carle said she was sure none of McColgan's friends and relatives who wrote in his support had seen the images he kept on his computer.
She specifically referred to a letter from a priest at St. Peter's Church in Merchantville describing McColgan as "an outstanding member of the church and society."
Agre said that while McColgan's friends were willing to speak for him and might view his crime as an aberration, McColgan "knows what he did is a crime, not a mistake. He knows why he's here, what he's done."
Kugler told the dozen people who attended the sentencing hearing that "without people like McColgan, there wouldn't be rapes and abuse of these young kids. This is not a victimless crime."
"There are tremendous consequences for these truly defenseless children, children who probably will never recover from their experiences," said Kugler.
As a condition of the sentence, McColgan is barred for life from employment or volunteer work in which he would have contact with minors.
He also must comply with all conditions of Megan's Law registration for sex offenders, even if he relocates to another state.
Reach Renee Winkler at (856) 486-2455 or rwinkler@courierpostonline.com
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