Former Missouri coach sentenced to prison for possessing child porn

ST. LOUIS (AP) -- A former high school football coach in the eastern Missouri town Washington was sentenced Friday to nearly four years in prison for possessing child pornography.

Carl Hagedorn, 49, of Washington, will also be on supervised release for life after serving his sentence, U.S. Attorney Catherine Hanaway said.

"Nothing we do is more important than protecting children from predators, especially from those we trust to educate our children," Hanaway said.

Hagedorn was arrested in January 2006 after a search of his home. Police found several images of children under the age of 12 engaged in sexually explicit conduct. Hanaway said Hagedorn also distributed images of child porn over the Internet.

Hagedorn pleaded guilty in October to one felony count of possession of child porn.

At the time of his arrest, Hagedorn was an assistant football coach and in-school suspension officer at Washington High School. He is no longer employed by the school district.

Hanaway has said she was not aware of any state or local charges relating to improper behavior with students at the school. She said none of the explicit images Hagedorn possessed included local children.

Washington is about 45 miles southwest of St. Louis.