On September 11, former USA Climbing Velocity crew supervisor Matthew Maddison was sentenced to as much as 15 years in jail for distributing movies of kid sexual abuse.
(Photograph: LinkedIn)
Revealed September 16, 2026 01:02PM
About our reporting: We reviewed courtroom paperwork and police stories to explain the arrest, plea deal, and sentencing of a former USA Climbing crew supervisor for importing and distributing little one sexual abuse materials.
On September 11, a Park Metropolis choose sentenced former USA Climbing Velocity crew supervisor Matthew Maddison to a minimal of 1 and a most of 15 years in Utah state jail for the sexual exploitation of a minor. As a consequence of Utah’s indeterminate sentencing legal guidelines, the precise size of Maddison’s incarceration shall be decided later by the state’s Board of Pardons and Parole.
Maddison initially confronted 10 costs of sexual exploitation of a minor and three costs of aggravated sexual exploitation of a minor. On July 31, he pled responsible to at least one depend of the previous. In trade, the Lawyer Common dropped the remaining costs.
Police arrested the 37-year-old climbing coach on April 28, 2026 for importing and distributing movies of kid sexual abuse on-line. The next day, the choose granted prosecutors’ request that Maddison, who’s British and doesn’t maintain U.S. citizenship, be held with out bail till trial. He spent 137 days in Summit County Jail, close to Park Metropolis.
USA Climbing confirmed in an electronic mail despatched on April 29 that it instantly positioned Maddison on unpaid administrative depart after the arrest. “At USAC, the security of our athletes is the best precedence,” the e-mail said. “We’re cooperating with regulation enforcement as they conduct their investigation.”
Climbing has reached out to USA Climbing for an up to date assertion however has not but acquired a response.
A disturbing arrest
In accordance with a police affidavit obtained by Climbing, Matthew Maddison was recognized by the Utah Web Crimes Towards Kids (ICAC) Job Pressure because the proprietor of a social media account that had distributed over 30 information containing little one sexual abuse materials. The social media firm, which the affidavit doesn’t identify, filed a CyberTipline report with the Nationwide Heart for Lacking and Exploited Kids on March 16, 2025. It took a number of search warrants and courtroom orders for the Utah ICAC Job Pressure to trace down Maddison.
At his residence, the arresting officers discovered what they described as “a big quantity” of kid sexual abuse materials on Maddison’s digital gadgets, together with movies involving the rape of five- to seven-year-old kids. The officers additionally claimed that Maddison admitted, post-Miranda warning, to proudly owning the concerned social media account and its related electronic mail handle.
In Utah, the sexual exploitation of a minor is a second-degree felony outlined as knowingly possessing, viewing, or accessing little one sexual abuse materials. Each file, and every little one concerned, is taken into account a separate felony.
Matthew Maddison’s three-year historical past with USA Climbing
Since March 2023, Maddison has labored as a coach for USA Climbing, the place he held the joint titles of Velocity crew supervisor and energy and conditioning coach. On the group, he oversaw bodily and psychological coaching for the Velocity athletes. He additionally deliberate their journey and accompanied them to home and worldwide competitions. In August 2024, Maddison accompanied Olympic Velocity climbers Emma Hunt, Piper Kelly, Zach Hammer, and Sam Watson to the Summer time Olympic Video games in Paris, France.
In its April 29 electronic mail, USA Climbing said that “whereas the costs seem like unrelated to his teaching obligations, we’re deeply disturbed by the allegations.”
The group affirmed their full compliance with all U.S. Heart for SafeSport necessities. As well as, it said that every one of their workers bear obligatory background checks.
It is a growing story that shall be up to date as new data turns into out there.
