Ryan Brungardt, Child Pornography Production, Kansas 2024

Former Salina Central High School Wrestling Coach Accused of Child Pornography Production

A federal grand jury in Wichita, Kansas, has returned an indictment charging Ryan Brungardt, 37, of Salina, with creating child sexual abuse materials (CSAM). The former high school wrestling coach was initially charged through complaint on three criminal counts, then prosecutors pursued an additional count at indictment after the discovery of a fourth alleged victim.

According to court documents, Brungardt is charged with three counts of production of child pornography and one count of attempted production of child pornography. Investigators allege that Brungardt clandestinely used a cellphone to record minors while they showered in a locker room during the Tournament of Champions, a wrestling tournament held at Newton High School in Newton, Kansas, in January 2024.

Brungardt is a former wrestling coach for Salina Central High School in Salina. The Kansas Bureau of Investigation (KBI), Salina Police Department, and Newton Police Department are investigating the case. Investigators are reviewing additional seized cellphone videos suspected to have been recorded at wrestling meets and tournaments in Newton, Hays, Garden City, and Salina, Kansas, during the 2023-2024 wrestling season.

Anyone who believes they witnessed crimes or suspicious activity at these events is asked to contact the KBI at (785) 600-8790 or report at www.kbi.ks.gov/sar.

This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice. Led by U.S. Attorneys’ Offices and CEOS, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state, and local resources to better locate, apprehend, and prosecute individuals who exploit children via the Internet, as well as to identify and rescue victims.

For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit https://www.justice.gov/psc.

An indictment is merely an allegation, and all defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.

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