Monday, November 28, 2011

Utah Professor Arrested for Allegedly Watching Child Porn on Flight

Grant D. Smith, a 47-year-old University of Utah professor in material sciences and engineering department, was arrested Saturday afternoon for allegedly watching child pornography on a Delta Airlines flight from Salt Lake City, UT to Boston, MA.

According to a passenger, Smith, who was seated in First Class, was looking at pornographic pictures of children engaged in sexual activities on his laptop. The passenger took a picture of Smith while he was looking at the pictures and notified a flight attendant as well as emailed a friend. The passenger told the friend to contact police which he did.

Smith tried to erase the pictures after the flight attendant told him to turn off his computer. He was arrested at the airport gate by state police and charged with possession of child pornography after Smith had voluntarily allowed the officers to view the contents of his laptop. Smith is being held on $75,000 bond and has plead not guilty to the charge.

In addition to the bond, the judge has ordered that Smith have no unsupervised contact with children under 16 years old and that his passport be surrendered. Smith cannot use the Internet except for business provided that he is able to make bail. The university has placed Smith on administrative leave pending the outcome of the case.

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