Friday, December 30, 2011

University of Utah professor allegedly admitted to trading porn

Authorities Thursday released more information about the search of a University of Utah professor?s Cottonwood Heights home following his child-pornography arrest last month in Boston.

Investigators said 47-year-old Grant Douglas Smith confessed to trading pornographic images of ?teens? online. They wrote that it was imperative that they search his home because Massachusetts investigators feared he planned to ask his girlfriend to destroy some evidence, according to a search warrant made public in 3rd District Court on Thursday. Smith, considered one of the top professors in the world in the field of molecular engineering, was working at the U. at the time of his arrest, the warrant states.

The information comes as the Utah Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force continues to probe Smith?s life. Task force members obtained the warrant so they could legally search his Country Wood Circle apartment on Nov. 28. They seized a computer, two hard drives, a cellphone, undeveloped film, an iPod, a video recorder, a camera and a telephone bill, according to the warrant.

Smith was arrested in late November after a Delta airline passenger alleged he saw Smith, who was sitting in first class, viewing child pornography on his laptop computer while travelling from Salt Lake City to Boston.

At the time of the arrest, Smith was divorcing his wife ?? the divorce was expected to be final by Nov. 28 ? and he had moved into the Cottonwood Heights condo during their divorce proceedings. Smith?s wife told authorities their marriage had unraveled more than a year earlier because Smith had cheated, the warrant states. Investigators allege Smith was living with his girlfriend at the residence.

According to the search warrant, Utah investigators became aware of the child-pornography allegations Nov. 26 after a Massachusetts state trooper called to tell them about Smith. The trooper told Utah investigators that Smith had given him permission to search his MacBook computer and iPhone, and authorities found evidence of child pornography on his laptop, the search warrant states. The pornographic images allegedly from a paid site showed naked girls, ages 5 to 10, engaging in sexual activity with adult males, according to the warrant. Smith also told investigators he started deleting pornographic images on his computer during the flight because he was ?bored,? the warrant states.

Massachusetts authorities said they also found ?many images? of fully clothed children on Smith?s iPhone that appeared to have been taken at parks and airports, the warrant states. They also claimed they found an image of child pornography in a folder titled ?Korea? and determined that Smith had just returned from Seoul, Korea, on Nov. 22 after attending a retreat for a retiring professor. Authorities say Smith usually traveled one out of every three weeks and was on his way to a conference when he was allegedly caught with the pornography.

Task force authorities said the University of Utah police already had initiated an investigation into Smith after learning of his arrest and immediately disconnected his office Internet access. The warrant claims the university police were looking for any items that might contain evidence but that were owned by the university. The warrant did not state if any such items were found and if they were turned over to investigators.

jstecklein@sltrib.com

Twitter @sltribjanelle

Source: http://www.sltrib.com/sltrib/news/53201811-78/smith-warrant-investigators-search.html.csp

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