Former Economics graduate student and convicted sex offender Kurt Mitman has been granted parole and may be allowed to resume classes at Penn, state and University officials said yesterday.
University spokeswoman Phyllis Holtzman said Mitman, who attended classes until last January as part of an academic-release program, will be considered for reinstatement.
"Reinstatement is not guaranteed and would be contingent upon his ability to satisfy certain conditions," Holtzman said. She would not elaborate on those conditions.
It is unclear whether Mitman will attempt to resume classes at the University. His lawyer, Richard Fink, has not returned repeated requests for comment.
Mitman pled guilty in March 2005 to having sexual intercourse with a 14-year-old boy and was sentenced to two and a half to five years in prison.
Starting in the fall of 2006, he commuted from a Bucks County prison to campus, where he spent up to 12 hours every day without the University's knowledge of his incarceration.
Mitman attended classes at Penn until last January, when the victim's mother discovered he was a student at Penn. A judge then revoked his academic-release privileges.
Leo Dunn, a spokesman for the Pennsylvania Board of Probation and Parole, said the State Board cited six reasons for granting Mitman parole. These included Mitman's acceptance of responsibility, remorse for the crime, completion of a treatment program and good behavior.
As part of his parole, Mitman will have to meet 10 conditions, including no direct contact with minors and a requirement that he maintain employment.
None of the conditions will prohibit Mitman from resuming his studies, Dunn said .
Jennifer Schorn, chief of special investigations for the Bucks County district attorney, said she does not believe Mitman should be allowed to return to Penn.
She noted that Mitman applied to the Economics graduate program in December 2005 without disclosing that he was in state custody.
"I would take pause in accepting someone back that was deceptive," Schorn said.
At the time, the University did not ask applicants to provide information on their criminal backgrounds, though the application has since been changed to include such information.
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