South Lake Tahoe coach facing federal child pornography charges

SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, Calif. - A search warrant served at a South Lake Tahoe home on April 15, 2020, has resulted in the arrest of a local 39-year-old snowboard and soccer coach on alleged child pornography charges.

Timothy Daniel Mackey was arrested without incident by the FBI and U.S. Marshals at his home during the search.

According to the criminal complaint filed in federal court on April 20, a member of the FBI Exploitation Task Force in Salt Lake City maintained a covert identity on the app, LiveMe. The complaint said Mackey was a user on the app that went by the name "bag of rock" and through this, allegedly distributed visual depictions of minors engaged in sexually explicit acts.

Mackey is allegedly the owner/administrator of a group in the LiveMe app titled “pic/vid share,” according to the FBI in their criminal complaint. The FBI's Online Covert Employee (OCE) said this group is known to be a group dedicated to sharing and exchanging images and videos of child pornography.

The suspect is currently in the Sacramento County Jail and has his next hearing on May 1, according to the US Attorney's Office for the Eastern District of California. Mackey is at their main jail on federal charges and is ineligible for bail at this time.

Mackey had been employed by Heavenly Mountain Resort as a snowboard coach and by Lake Tahoe Unified School District as part of the high school's junior varsity boy's soccer coaching staff.

"Heavenly Mountain Resort is deeply troubled by the arrest of a former employee of our resort. The safety and well-being of our guests are of the utmost importance to Heavenly. We take all complaints of this nature very seriously, and we are fully cooperating with the investigation," said Heavenly spokesperson Russell Carlton.

During the search of Mackey's home, the agents seized a number of digital devices which are currently in the process of being reviewed for evidence. They also retrieved an SD-card from his telephone containing evidence, according to the complaint.

The search of the Mackey home was a joint operation with representatives from the U.S. Marshal's Office, FBI, El Dorado County Sheriff's Office, El Dorado County District Attorney's Office, and the South Lake Tahoe Police Department. According to police, the case is not related to the April 9 arrest of a South Lake Tahoe man suspected of possessing child pornography.

All defendants charged are presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.