By Tim Krohn
Free Press Staff Writer
MANKATO —
Suspended MSU football coach Todd Hoffner is asking a judge to dismiss two
felony charges of child pornography.
Hoffner¹s attorney, Jim Fleming, filed a motion for dismissal in Blue Earth
County District Court last week in advance of a hearing Wednesday before
Judge Krista Jass.
Fleming argues the videos prosecutors are using as evidence are not child
pornography.
Hoffner, 46, has been on paid administrative leave from the university since
he was escorted off a field during practice Aug. 17. He was arrested and
charged later that month.
He is accused of using his young children to make three short videos, which
prosecutors say contain child pornography, on a cellphone that had been
issued to him by the university. The videos show the children dancing naked
and touching themselves, according to the charges.
Fleming has made two previous requests to Blue Earth County prosecutors to
drop the charges, after Fleming received confirmation from law enforcement
that no child pornography had been found on computers taken from Hoffner¹s
house in Eagle Lake and following an investigation by Blue Earth County
Human Services that found no evidence Hoffner¹s children had been sexually
abused.
Three universities where Hoffner had previously coached also found no
evidence of wrongdoing after reviewing computer and cellphone records from
his time at those schools.
Hoffner¹s wife, Melodee, has said publicly the videos were not sexual and
simply showed innocent family fun.
Hoffner posted a $40,000 bond for his unconditional release from jail after
he made his first court appearance for the charges. He has been volunteering
with youth football.
Fleming and Blue Earth County prosecutors declined to comment on the recent motion, according to a report in the Star Tribune.
