By Bill Grubb

GREENEVILLE — Michael Eugene Noel, a former teacher and coach at Clinch School, has been sentenced to serve 26 years in federal custody.
    Noel was sentenced Monday by U.S. District Judge J. Ronnie Greer to serve 240 months in prison for a federal child pornography charge and 72 months for a charge of attempting to destroy evidence.  The sentences are to be served consecutively for a total of 312 months. 
    Greer also ordered Noel to forfeit several items of computer equipment.
    Noel was indicted in February on a charge of receiving child pornography from March 2006 until June 2007.  Under the terms of an April plea agreement a second count alleging he possessed the pornography was dismissed.
    The agreement also included a guilty plea to the third count of the federal indictment claimed from June 20, 2007 until June 28, 2007 Noel “did corruptly obstruct and impede, or endeavor to influence, obstruct and impede” the criminal case “by damaging and attempting to destroy two CPU towers and computer accessories, all of which was evidence of crime, and by concealing other evidence of crime.”
    According to court records, authorities found 110 videos containing child pornography on two computers owned by Noel.  Federal authorities said 58 of the videos were more than five minutes long and the videos depicted child bondage and children engaged in sadomasochistic sexually explicit conduct Authorities also reported finding 1,074 still images classified as child pornography.
    Noel was charged June 28, 2007 by the Kingsport Police Department with aggravated sexual battery, sexual battery by an authority figure, solicitation of sexual exploitation of a minor and attempt to commit especially aggravated sexual exploitation of a minor.
    He was dismissed by the Hawkins County Board of Education following the arrest.
    A lawsuit naming Noel and the Hawkins County Board of Education as defendants and seeking approximately $70 million in damages was filed in Hawkins County Circuit Court earlier this year by the parents of five teenage boys.