UNION, Ky. – An assistant swim coach at Ryle High School in Kentucky has been charged with taking photos of a nude juvenile girl and uploading them to a SmugMug account, according to officials. The coach has since been fired.
Mark Fowler, 53, took the photos while the girl changed clothes in a restroom Monday evening, according to the Boone County Sheriff's Office.
Fowler was fired from his coaching job at Ryle after his arrest, according to Barbara Brady, schools/community relations coordinator for Boone County Schools. Fowler had been a "part-time, paraprofessional" coach since July 2015, Brady said.
The girl was not a student at Boone County Schools and the incident did not occur on school grounds, Brady said.
School counselors and psychologists are available for any Ryle students who had Fowler as a part-time coach, Brady said.
Fowler has been charged with four counts of promoting a sexual performance by a minor (Class B felony) and four counts of possess/view of matter portraying a sexual performance by a minor (Class D felony), according Major tom Scheben of the sheriff's office.
Detectives served a search warrant on the premises and seized electronic media to be examined, Scheben said.
Fowler was taken to the Boone County Detention Center. A judge set bond at $25,000.
