A former Salina middle school teacher and high school wrestling coach has admitted to producing child pornography. Ryan Brungardt, 38, pleaded guilty after investigators found he recorded boys showering during wrestling tournaments.
Authorities say Brungardt made 71 videos involving 25 minors. Students brought the situation to light by reporting his actions. Detectives had a warrant for his phone and confronted him at the school. Brungardt then tried to destroy the phone bursting the battery which led to a small fire. He was Tased and taken into custody as the school was evacuated as a precaution.
Brungardt now faces between 35 and 40 years in prison. He will have to register as a sex offender for the rest of his life.
According to court documents, Ryan Brungardt, 38, of Salina pleaded guilty to 3 counts of Production of Child Pornography.
Ryan Brungardt was a middle school teacher and high school coach. In those roles, he attended wrestling tournaments throughout the state of Kansas. While coaching at wrestling tournaments, Brungardt would go into locker rooms after matches and use his cell phone to film the boys in the shower.
Over the course of this conduct, Brungardt recorded 71 videos of minors at wrestling events across Kansas, including the following:
• Newton, Kansas (January 13, 2024);
• Rose Hill, Kansas (January 18, 2024);
• Hays, Kansas (January 20, 2024);
• Garden City, Kansas (January 27, 2024).
Those 71 videos captured 25 minor victims (the youngest of whom was 14 years old), as well as 4 victims who were 18 at the time of the filming. There were additional videos of minors in locker rooms where the victims could not be identified.
This all came to light after some boys bravely made a report to their schools about a coach possibly
filming them.
Brungardt is scheduled to be sentenced on January 13, 2027. A federal district court judge will determine any sentence after considering the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.
“As a society, we rely on teachers, coaches, childcare workers, and others to protect and care for our children,” said U.S. Attorney Ryan A. Kriegshauser. “The Department of Justice is committed to holding those in positions of trust to account when that trust is violated. We are thankful for the bravery it took to bring the conduct in this case to light. We continue to work to identify victims, so we encourage athletes to reach out if they participated in any of these tournaments.” The U.S. Attorney’s Office conducted the investigation in coordination with the Kansas Bureau of Investigation, the Newton Police Department, and various other local police departments.
