Former YMCA employee sentenced for child pornography crimes

NASHVILLE, Tenn. — A Gallatin, Tenn., man was sentenced to more than 16 years in prison on Dec. 13 for receipt, possession and distribution of child pornography following an investigation by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement's (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), the ICE HSI Attaché Office in Toronto and the Toronto Police Service.

Daniel Quail, 35, was indicted in January 2011 on various charges related to the receipt, possession and distribution of child pornography. He pleaded guilty on June 14. Quail had collected approximately 5,832 images and 524 videos depicting children engaged in sexually explicit conduct, including images and videos of children less than 12 years old engaged in bondage and bestiality. In addition to the 202-month prison sentence, Quail was also ordered to spend 36 months in a half-way house and 25 years of supervised release by U.S. District Judge William J. Haynes, Jr.

At the sentencing, Judge Haynes heard proof that Quail had been employed during the past 15 years by the YMCA in Gallatin and in Sarasota and Port Charlotte, Fla. Quail had befriended a young boy while working at an after school program. He spent a lot of time taking the child to sports games and other fun events. Although the relationship had ended approximately two years prior to his arrest, Quail was found to have photographs of the child on the wall of his apartment as well as a folder on his computer that referenced the child. The folder contained photographs of the child with friends and sports teams, as well as pornographic images of another child of about the same age. Quail had also been online, trading child pornography with others and talking about his interest in father-son sex. Judge Haynes found that this young boy had suffered psychological harm at a minimum and that his relationship with the child had been destructive.

"HSI will aggressively use its investigative authorities to identify and arrest individuals who seek to sexually exploit children in this manner," said Raymond R. Parmer, Jr., special agent in charge of ICE HSI in New Orleans. "We are committed to protecting our communities by bringing to justice these child predators, who are a direct threat to our youth."

Parmer oversees ICE HSI for the states of Tennessee, Mississippi, Arkansas, Alabama and Louisiana.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Lynne T. Ingram and S. Carran Daughtrey prosecuted this case.