Not guilty to porn, says Utah college professor
A Utah college professor accused of viewing naked images of children on his laptop while flying first-class to Boston entered a “not guilty” plea to charges of possessing child pornography, authorities said.
The man was identified as Grant Smith, a professor of material science and engineering at the University of Utah. He was arrested shortly after his Delta Air Lines flight from Utah to Boston landed at Logan Airport, state police said.
Another passenger who saw Smith's computer screen alerted the flight crew about what appeared to be child pornography and also told a family member who contacted authorities, police said.
"These weren't photos of a child in the bath that a parent might keep," Suffolk County District Attorney Daniel Conley said of the images. "These were explicitly sexual and extremely disturbing."
State police interviewed Smith and recovered multiple still images from his laptop depicting young girls — some naked and some engaged in explicit sexual activity with adult males, the district attorney's office told Reuters.
Police estimate the children in the images were between five and 14 years old, it said.
Smith, 47, was ordered held on USD$75,000 cash bail, the Suffolk County District Attorney's office said. As part of his bail conditions, he was ordered not to have unsupervised contact with any child under 16.
The University of Utah said it had placed Smith on administrative leave.
"Professor Smith deserves a full and fair investigation into this issue," a university statement said. "The University of Utah, however, has no tolerance for the viewing or possessing of child pornography by any of its employees, regardless of where it occurs."
If the allegations were found to be true, the university said it would move to immediately dismiss Smith. He was due back in court in Boston next month.
By David Wilkening
David
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