Other universities victim to child pornography scandals

Penn's name is hitting local news after an administrator was charged with possession of child pornography -- however, it is certainly not the only academic institution that has been involved in such a scandal.

Several other schools, including Yale and Cornell universities, have experienced similar situations as faculty or staff members at each have been involved in pornography investigations. And at least one, Purdue University, has had students involved in this type of criminal investigation.

Paul Mosher, Penn's former vice provost and director of libraries, has been under investigation since August and recently turned himself in to Philadelphia Police after facing charges that he allegedly possessed more than 2,000 images of child pornography on his computer. Mosher, who was placed on administrative leave earlier this month, resigned once news of the investigation became public.

In October 2002, Robert Mosher, a former information technology staff member at Cornell University, was arrested for possession of child pornography.

When Cornell officials became aware of the investigation into the pornography charges, they suspended Robert Mosher with pay until the charges could be substantiated. When they were, Robert Mosher was immediately fired.

"Our general policy is to work with the local law enforcement agencies who are investigating the case and to cooperate fully," Cornell spokeswoman Linda Grace-Kobas said.

At Purdue, 11 students were found to be in possession of child pornography after an investigation in March. The investigation terminated with no official charges issued by the state against the students, but independent sanctions were imposed on some students by the University, according to Purdue spokesman Joe Bennett.

A more high-profile case occurred at Iowa State University in early March, when Randall Brown, the school's assistant basketball coach, was charged with possession of child pornography and resigned from his post shortly thereafter, admitting to charges. ISU spokeswoman Annette Hacker would not comment on how the university handled the situation, saying only that Brown was no longer a member of the ISU community.

She did add, though, that he is currently undergoing some form of treatment.

Yale University also saw a similar, highly publicized case on its campus. Antonio Lasaga, a tenured geology professor and faculty master of one of the school's undergraduate college dorms, was charged with possession and eventually pleaded guilty in February 2000 to charges of child pornography possession.

According to the Yale Daily News, Lasaga resigned from his position as faculty master of the Saybrook dorms shortly after the charges were brought against him. However, he refused to resign from his tenured position on the Yale faculty.

Yale officials could not be reached for further comment on its handling of the situation.

Despite the controversy over these cases, the majority of schools did not make any long-term changes regarding staff Internet use or privacy policies as a result of the incidents.

In addition, administrators expressed their belief that without banning unlimited use of the Internet there is no way to completely eliminate illegal activity on the Web.

"We don't think there was anything wrong with our policy," Purdue's Bennett said. "We do have a policy in place that requires that the users of the University's Internet Provider Service not break the law, among other things."

Cornell's Grace-Kobas echoed Bennett's sentiments, but added that Cornell is always looking for ways to improve its policies.

"You try to have employees who are honest and who know what the policies are and what the legal issues are," she said. "But you will always have people slide through the cracks."

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