Alec Donovan (Centenary University/Facebook)
TRENTON, N.J. | New Jersey’s U.S. Attorney announced the sentencing of wrestling coach Alec Donovan, 26, following his guilty plea to distributing child pornography, including the sharing of nude selfies with minors.
On March 30, U.S. District Judge Zahid N. Quraishi sentenced Donovan to 87 months — more than seven years — and added 30 years of supervised release.
Donovan’s imprisonment is not the first time he’s made headlines. In 2015, the Brick Township man was a high school senior who was crowned state wrestling champion, with a 39-1 record, ranked among the top 25 wrestlers in the nation for his weight class.
That same year, Donovan came out publicly as gay in an interview with an LGBTQ+ sports website, detailing how he came out to a female friend in freshman year at Brick Memorial High School and to fellow wrestlers in his junior year. He had considered suicide, and found acceptance.
Donovan went on to even greater fame as the first known out gay wrestler in NCAA history.
But in college, after experiencing homophobia and losing his scholarship following a concussion, he transferred to Centenary University in Hackettstown and graduated with a bachelor’s degree in history.
According to Donovan’s LinkedIn page, he worked as a coach at the Shore Thing Wrestling Club in Lakewood, New Jersey as well as a supervisor for TDI, Inc. and as a wedding photographer.
The news release issued on March 29 by U.S. Attorney Philip Sellinger states that “Donovan used an internet-based application to exchange multiple images and videos of child sexual abuse, including depictions involving pre-pubescent children,” from January 2021 through March 2021. The prosecutor said Donovan also “used the web-based messaging application to solicit and engage in conversations with minors, including requesting nude photographs from the minors and sending nude photographs to them.”
Donovan’s arrest was the result of work by the Newark Child Exploitation and Human Trafficking Task force, under the direction of FBI Special Agent in Charge James E. Dennehy in Newark, N.J.
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