This former Wichita Falls coach was sentenced to over 30 years for child pornography

Editor’s Note: This story about the sexual exploitation of children may be disturbing to some readers. If you know or suspect that anyone under 18 is being sexually or physically abused, call the Texas child abuse hotline at 1-800-252-5400. To learn more about how to identify signs of child abuse or neglect, click here.

A former Wichita Falls High School basketball coach — who was caught years ago looking at pornography during school hours — was sentenced to federal and state prison time for possession of child pornography, according to a media release and federal court documents.

Mark Daniel Malone, 47, coached boys basketball at Old High from 2015 to 2019 when he left to coach girls basketball at Rockport-Fulton High School. His time in Wichita Falls ISD was part of an approximately 20-year career in education.

How former coach Mark Malone was sentenced

Malone was recently sentenced to 32 years in state court in Rockport for 22 counts of possession of child pornography, as well as eight years in federal court in Corpus Christi for one count of possession of child pornography.

He was being held Tuesday in the Aransas County Detention Center, according to online jail records.

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On Feb. 16, 343rd District Judge Janna Whatley stacked some of the sentences handed down by a jury during Malone's trial, reaching a 32-year sentence, according to a media release from the Aransas County Attorney's Office. County Attorney Amanda Oster prosecuted the case.

Wrongdoing discovered in East Texas and Rockport

Malone's history of wrongdoing dates back to 2007 when he used login information and the computers of other staff members to access pornography during school in Hallsville ISD, according to the CA's Office.

School officials allowed him to resign.

At the time of his arrest for possession of child pornography in 2020, he was the girls athletic coordinator for Aransas County ISD and girls varsity basketball coach at Rockport-Fulton High School. After his arrest, school officials allowed Malone to resign.

Investigators with the Texas Attorney General's Office, assisted by Rockport police, served a search warrant at his home March 19, 2020. Malone was subsequently arrested.

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The AG's investigation showed he uploaded child pornography and had conversations about it with other people, according to the CA's Office. In addition, the now ex-coach sent a photo of a female student’s underwear on a locker room floor to an unknown person.

Malone's story about how the images got on his phone

Investigators found hundreds of photos and videos on Malone's phone of children, ranging from babies to girls up to about age 7, depicting extremely violent sexual abuse of children, according to the CA's Office.

Malone admitted to uploading the images and possessing child pornography during a previous hearing. But he told a jury lots of people had access to his phone and raised the possibility of his students downloading the images.

However, the evidence showed illicit material was downloaded on his phone at his home via an account tied to his personal email.

'Pure evil'

The jury took about two hours to find Malone guilty.

"In sentencing, the defendant said that anyone who looks at child pornography is pure evil. Yet the defendant still refused to take responsibility for his actions," the CA's Office statement said.

The federal Homeland Security Investigations and the Texas AG’s Office-Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force investigated Malone.

The federal case against Mark Malone

On Aug. 11, 2021, a federal grand jury handed down a two-count indictment against him for possession of child pornography and distribution of child pornography. He pleaded guilty Aug. 24, 2022, in federal court.

On Jan. 23, he was sentenced in federal court for possession of child pornography by U.S. District Judge Drew B. Tipton, court documents show.

He was also sentenced to pay $5,000 in restitution to a victim and meet requirements for sex offender registration. The remaining count of distribution of child pornography was dismissed.

Trish Choate, enterprise watchdog reporter for the Times Record News, covers education, courts, breaking news and more. Contact Trish with news tips at tchoate@gannett.com. Read her recent work here. Her X handle is @Trishapedia.

This article originally appeared on Wichita Falls Times Record News: Former Wichita Falls coach sentenced for child pornography possession