Mosher arraigned on porn charges

Former Vice Provost and Director of Libraries Paul Mosher was arraigned last Thursday on charges pertaining to possession of child pornography.

Mosher allegedly possessed more than 2,000 images of child pornography between his office and home computer. He had allegedly purchased the images with three credit cards.

The arraignment occurred following a preliminary hearing on July 31, which had previously been delayed several times at the request of Mosher's attorney, Paul Messing.

Mosher has been charged with sexual abuse, possession of an instrument of a crime and criminal use of a communications device. He pleaded not guilty at his arraignment, and is now scheduled to appear at a pre-trial conference on Sept. 24 at the Criminal Justice Center in Center City.

If convicted, Mosher faces three to seven years in prison on these charges.

The sexual abuse charge is a result of Pennsylvania state law that says possession of child pornography is automatically charged as a count of sexual abuse, according to Cathie Abookire, spokeswoman for the Philadelphia District Attorney's office.

At the pre-trial conference, attorneys from both sides will bring a judge up to date on the status of their respective cases, and either a trial date will be set or another pre-trial conference will be scheduled for the future, said Abookire.

Abookire would not comment on a possible plea bargain, referring the question to Mosher's attorney.

Messing, however, would not comment on any aspect of the case.

The investigation into Mosher's alleged activities began sometime last summer when two computer repair technicians discovered illicit images on Mosher's laptop. The workers reported the information to the University, and the University handed the investigation over to the Philadelphia Police Department.

The investigation culminated on April 11 when Mosher's computer in his Van Pelt Library office was seized by the Special Victims Unit of the Philadelphia Police.

Mosher was placed on administrative leave from the University on April 11, and resigned from his position on April 17.

Four days later, Mosher turned himself in to police.

The Library system is currently being headed by Carton Rogers, and has not missed a step as a result of the situation, said University President Judith Rodin.

Rodin added that no changes are being made to Penn's employee hiring and monitoring procedures.

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