By Karen Gleason
The 830 Times
A San Antonio teacher with ties to Del Rio has been ordered held without bond following his arrest on federal child pornography charges.
Thomas McKinley Koog Jr., appeared via video link before U.S. Magistrate Judge Victor Roberto Garcia in the U.S. District Courthouse for a detention hearing Friday morning.
Koog, a graduate of Del Rio High School and whose family lives in Del Rio, is charged by indictment with one count of distribution of child pornography and one count of receipt of child pornography. Koog was arrested Oct. 22 by Department of Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) Special Agent Matthew Sepulveda, who also testified during Friday’s detention hearing.
Garcia opened the hearing by swearing in all of the defendants and advising them the hearing was being conducted by video to minimize any risk of infection. All agreed to proceed with the video hearing.
The Koog hearing was the first on the court’s docket.
The assistant U.S. attorney told Garcia he was seeking to have Koog detained pending the disposition of the charges against him, while Koog’s attorney, identified in court records as Robert M. Maurer II, said he planned to seek bond for his client.
The assistant U.S. attorney then called Sepulveda to the witness stand.
Sepulveda identified himself, noted he is employed as a Homeland Security Investigations special agent in Del Rio and identified Koog on the monitor.
In response to subsequent questions, Sepulveda told the court he became aware of Koog in August 2020 after the Texas Attorney General’s Office received information from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, which in turn had gotten a tip from Facebook.
The tip from Facebook, Sepulveda testified, dealt with “an account distributing files that appeared to be of child pornography.” He subsequently testified the charges against Koog stemmed from 12 videos and several image files.
Sepulveda also testified that investigation of the tips led agents to believe that Koog has distributed at least three videos to six different individuals, some of them in other countries. He also testified the videos depicted “a mix of pre-pubescent and pubescent children.”
Sepulveda testified the links between the Facebook account and Koog included internet protocol (IP) addresses and a telephone number.
Asked how Koog was employed, Sepulveda replied that Koog is employed by the Northside Independent School District.
Under questioning from Koog’s attorney, Sepulveda testified that Koog had surrendered himself to agents, and Koog had also voluntarily surrendered his passport.
“And he (Koog) has no prior criminal record?” the attorney asked Sepulveda.
“He has no criminal history whatsoever,” Sepulveda replied.
Koog’s attorney told the court he had asked Mary Martinez, Koog’s sister who resides in Del Rio, to testify on his client’s behalf via Zoom, but he was unable to establish that link, and Martinez did not testify.
After both the assistant U.S. attorney and Koog’s attorney finished questioning Sepulveda, and Koog’s attorney was unable to connect with Martinez, Garcia noted that “he’s not going to be able to teach anymore,” referring to Koog.
Garcia also said if Koog is convicted of the charges against him, “he may be subject to a substantial amount of time” in prison.
Garcia then ordered Koog detained without bond.
A check of the indictment against Koog shows the government is alleging the distribution and the receipt of the child pornography occurred between January 2019 and Oct. 20, 2021.
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