A Utah male has been accused of watching minor porn on a Delta flight from Salt Lake Megalopolis to Boston on Saturday afternoon.
47-year-ancient Grant Smith, of Cottonwood Heights, Utah, was sitting in first class when a fellow passenger saw the pornographic images on Smith’s laptop and told flight crew, the Associated Press reports.
Massachusetts State Troopers interviewed Smith, questioned to view his machine and arrested him when the plane landed at Boston Logan International after 4pm, CBS News reports.
He has been charged with possession of minor pornography, and police affirm additional charges could follow. “Minor pornography is a form of minor sexual abuse–nothing less,” state police spokesman David Procopio said in a statement, the Washington Advertise reports. “Those who possess it–a crime unto itself–foster an evil network that sexually abuses and exploits children irreparably.”
ABC’s Salt Lake Megalopolis affiliate reports that Smith is a father of two and a professor of materials science and engineering at the University of Utah. He was reportedly in Boston for a materials research convention.
In a statement to The Daily Utah Chronicle, the University of Utah said that Smith has been placed on leave during the criminal investigation. “Professor Smith deserves a complete and honest investigation into this issue,” the statement said. “The University of Utah, however, has no tolerance for the viewing or possessing of minor pornography by any of its employees, regardless of where it occurs.”
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