A former Webster City coach accused of secretly videotaping his students has committed suicide in a South Dakota jail. Forty-one-year-old Shawn Lee Mofle was indicted last month on six counts of producing child pornography and two counts of possessing it.
The suicide happened hours before an appearance in Federal Court in Sioux City on the charges filed against him. The U.S. Marshals Service said Mofle was found dead in the Union County Jail in Elk Point, South Dakota. Jail staff found Mofle unresponsive and he was pronounced dead at 7:30 Thursday morning.
Mofle coached the seventh grade boys basketball team at Webster City Middle School from November, 2003 until this past January when the child pornography charges first surfaced. Mofle faced a maximum sentence of 30 years in prison and a fine of $250,000 if he was convicted of the crime.