WASHINGTON — Days after being given a 35-year sentence on federal child pornography charges, a former Prince George’s County basketball coach and substitute teacher has been given another three-decade sentence on several state charges.
Christopher Speights’ 30-year sentence on state charges of child sex abuse and possessing child porn will run concurrently with the federal sentence, Prince George’s County State’s Attorney Angela Alsobrooks said.
Speights, 35, pleaded guilty in March to the state charges.
Prosecutors said Speights, who coached basketball at Bradbury Heights Elementary for nine years and also coached a traveling basketball team, had dozens of files on his cellphone and computer depicting him sexually abusing boys. He also posed as a minor online and blackmailed children for additional sexually explicit images, threatening to tell “Coach Speights” if they didn’t comply.
Speights did not speak during his sentencing. The judge told him his actions were “devastating to families and children.”
During a news conference after the sentencing, Alsobrooks called Speights a “dangerous predator” who targeted vulnerable children and tried to position himself as a father figure that single moms could trust.
“His scheme was a sinister one. It was designed to allow him to have access and to injure children and that is exactly what he did,” she said.
Police arrested Speights in April 2017 after authorities got a tip from online storage company Dropbox about child porn being uploaded to his account.
Maryland Attorney General Brian Frosh said authorities recovered a total of 153 images and videos from Speights’ cellphone and computer — and have still not been able to identify all of the victims.
“We are still looking for victims,” he said. “We know there are more children who were exploited and victimized by this guy.”
Assistant Attorney General Kelly Burrell said about 50 of the victims have been identified as children from Prince George’s County.
“There are hundreds more faces that [investigators] need to identify,” she said.
Authorities urged anyone who believes their child was coached or taught by Speights and may be a victim to call the state’s hotline at 800-637-5437
Speights is also awaiting sentencing in Worcester County, Maryland, where some of the abuse took place.
WTOP’s John Domen contributed to this report.
