Wife supports football coach charged with child porn

The wife of Minnesota State-Mankato football coach Todd Hoffner, accused in a case of child pornography involving their children, is voicing support for her husband and blasting the charges against him, KARE 11 and WCCO report.

Hoffner, 46, was charged with videotaping his three children nude. “The charges against my husband are ridiculous and baseless,” Melodee Hoffner said.

Melodee Hoffner spoke to the media for the first time since her husband was charged in Blue Earth County District Court last week after videos of their 9-, 8- and 5-year-old children dancing nude were found on his school-issued cellphone by a university IT professional, the Star Tribune reports.

Melodee Hoffner says the images on the video are innocent and that she and her husband were “in shock” when he was arrested, the Pioneer Press says. She says she is a licensed school counselor and knows the signs of children who have been abused.

The Associated Press delves into some of the issues in the case, and notes that the Hoffners are making a simple case that the images are nothing more than innocent family antics, unfairly misinterpreted by authorities as having the darkest possible motive.

Fox 9 has Melodee Hoffner’s whole statement.