- Matthew Maddison, a USA Climbing coach, faces charges for allegedly possessing and distributing child sex abuse material.
- He was charged with three first-degree felonies and 10 second-degree felonies.
- USA Climbing placed Maddison on unpaid leave following his April 28 arrest.
PARK CITY — A Park City man, who was also a coach with USA Climbing, was charged Monday with possessing and distributing child sex abuse material.
Matthew Maddison, 37, is charged in 3rd District Court with three counts of aggravated sexual exploitation of a minor, a first-degree felony; and 10 counts of sexual exploitation of a minor, a second-degree felony.
At the time he was arrested, Maddison was the strength and conditioning coach and speed team manager for USA Climbing.
"While the charges appear to be unrelated to his coaching responsibilities, we are deeply disturbed by the allegations. Upon learning of this information, we immediately placed Mr. Maddison on unpaid administrative leave, pending resolution of this matter," USA Climbing said in a statement following his arrest.
"As part of Matthew's employment, he works directly with youth, in a position of trust, some of whom are the same age as the children in the CSAM files he distributed," a police booking affidavit states. "Matthew's employment requires that he travel throughout the country and internationally as he mentors youth, teenagers and adults."
Investigators allege Maddison has been viewing and sharing child sex abuse material since at least July 2024.
On March 16, a report was made to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children about someone uploading files of suspected child sex abuse material on an undisclosed social media account and that 27 files had been uploaded on March 15. An investigator with the Utah Internet Crimes Against Children task force "conducted a web search of the email address provided by the electronic service provider and located the website for USA Climbing, and that the email address was listed as the contact for the defendant, Matthew Maddison, as the speed team manager and strength and conditioning coach for the youth athletes at the organization," according to charging documents.
On April 13, the investigator obtained a warrant to view conversations Maddison was having with other online users, "and it was clear that Maddison knew he was distributing child sex abuse material," the charges allege.
A search warrant was served on Maddison's Park City home on April 28, and "officers searched some of Maddison's electronic devices on scene, and a large amount of CSAM was located," according to the charges, while investigators noted that "Maddison had distributed over 30 files of CSAM on the social media app."
Prosecutors have requested that Maddison be held in custody without the possibility of posting bail pending trial because of the seriousness of his charges and because he "is a citizen of the United Kingdom and does not have strong ties to Utah other than his employment."
