Fomer gym coach on trial for child porn

A St. Charles man and former gymnastics coach charged with possessing child pornography told police he knew the images on his computer were illegal and "wrong," according to an audio recording played in court Tuesday.

Vernor P. Gumila, 40, a former instructor at Gymkhana Gymnastics Club & Dance Studio in Hanover Park, is on trial in Kane County, charged with 18 counts of child pornography possession, a Class 3 felony. His ex-roommate, also a former gymnastics coach, pleaded guilty to the same offense two years ago.

Prosecutors began building their case Tuesday by playing an audio recording from a police interview after Gumila's arrest on Oct. 10, 2007.

In the recording, Gumila admits to viewing pornographic images of girls as young as 12 years old while browsing the Internet. He tells police he had viewed pornography, including images of children, on a daily basis since he "first got the computer."

"Did you think what you were doing was wrong," a police sergeant asks.

"Yes," Gumila responds.

Police said Gumila was pulled from a children's gymnastics class and arrested just hours after authorities searched the apartment he shared with Shawn C. Bowlden on the 900 block of South Third Street in St. Charles.

St. Charles Police Officer Troy Peacock testified that boxes and bags full of magazines, videos and other materials containing or referencing pornography were removed from Bowlden's bedroom, and Gumila later gave consent for police to take his camera and computer.

"He was very cooperative," Peacock said of Gumila.

Prosecutor David Haslett of the Illinois Attorney General's High-Tech Crimes Unit said forensic investigators retrieved 13 images of child pornography from Gumila's computer and evidence of him searching for it online.

Defense attorney Michelle Moore said an "integral issue" to the case is whether Bowlden, an admitted pornography addict, had access to Gumila's computer. On Tuesday, however, Bowlden testified that he only used his own computer to build his "collection."

Both Gumila and Bowlden, a former instructor at St. Charles Gymnastics Academy, were fired from their jobs after their arrests.

Gumila told police he coached mostly girls ages 7 to 18. He denied having sexual contact with any of them, but admitted to taking photos of at least one in a "sexy pose," which he said he planned to use in a collage for her and her parents.

Bowlden, 35, pleaded guilty in 2008 and was sentenced to 2 1/2 years of sex offender probation and ordered to register as a sex offender for life. His probation expires in October.

Moore said Gumila might testify in his own defense when his bench trial in front of Circuit Judge Timothy Q. Sheldon resumes Oct. 4.