Former Vice Provost and Director of Libraries Paul Mosher was sentenced to seven years probation and required to register as a sex offender for charges related to possession of child pornography yesterday.
Mosher pleaded guilty last October for possession of child pornography and related charges.
Mosher is required to register as a sex offender under a Pennsylvania law known as Megan's Law, continue a private treatment program and pay a $5,000 fine.
The district attorney had requested that Judge Carolyn Temin sentence Mosher to one to four years in jail.
"We disagree with the judge's decision to sentence him to probation ... the crime was very serious," DA spokeswoman Cathie Abookire said.
Mosher was originally scheduled for sentencing in January, but sentencing was postponed for unspecified reasons.
Mosher's attorney, Paul Messing, was unable to be reached for comment.
University spokeswoman Lori Doyle said that "we haven't really been following" the case.
Mosher had been the subject of a Philadelphia Police Department investigation after roughly 2,000 illicit images of children were discovered on his laptop computer last spring.
The images were discovered by two computer repair technicians, who reported their findings to school officials.
The University subsequently turned the investigation over to the Philadelphia Police.
The Special Victims Unit of the PPD seized Mosher's computer from his office in the Van Pelt Library on April 11. That day, University officials placed Mosher on administrative leave.
Shortly thereafter, Mosher resigned from his position and turned himself in to Philadelphia Police on April 21.
At his August arraignment, Mosher pleaded not guilty to charges of sexual abuse of children, unlawful use of a communication facility and possession of an instrument of crime.
It came as a surprise to many when he decided to plead guilty in the fall.
The plea was not part of a bargain with the District Attorney's Office, but rather an "open" plea.
Mosher will have the seven years of probation time to pay his fine. He is required to register as a sex offender for 10 years.
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