Former gymnastics coach sentenced to 25 years on child porn charges

Medford, Ore. — A hefty prison sentence has been handed down to a Medford man, convicted of filming young girls while they were changing — at the gymnastics gym where he was a coach.

57-year-old Jeffrey Bettman will now serve 25 years for the 13 child pornography related charges that he pleaded guilty to.

On Thursday, victims, parents, and their friends gathered at the Federal Courthouse in Medford for Bettman’s sentencing.

A number of young women who were victimized by Bettman spoke in court, along with their parents, who described the damage done by the videos.

NBC5 News spoke with one of the young women who were affected. Lauren Hill said the sentencing has given her a sense of closure, “I’m really glad now that I spoke, with all of the encouragement that I’ve gotten from the other girls.”

Jill Hill, owner of Southern Oregon Gymnastics said, “We get to enjoy life, we get to continue on and he has to now ponder for the rest of his life what he has done.”

In January, Bettman pleaded guilty to 13 child pornography related charges, stemming from acts over a 20 year period.

Bettman admitted to filming the female students, ages 9 to 15, while they were changing  while working in California and Oregon as a gymnastics coach.

Here locally, he admitted to setting up cameras at both a Grants Pass and Medford gym.

Police have identified 49 victims from the videos and photos that were seized during a search warrant.

Following his 25 year prison sentence, Bettman has been ordered post-prison supervision for the rest of his life.

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