Kiddie Porn Charges For Penn Professor

APRIL 22--Meet Paul Mosher.

The 66-year-old Philadelphia academic--until last week a University of Pennsylvania Vice Provost and Director of Libraries--was nabbed yesterday on kiddie porn charges. According to Philly cops, Mosher downloaded pornographic images of children onto his office computer at Penn's Van Pelt library, the university's main library facility.

A search of Mosher's computer turned up more than 2000 illicit images, according to investigators.

With his arrest looming, Mosher--who arrived at Penn in 1988--was placed on administrative leave last Monday. He resigned three days later.

If convicted of the felony charges, Mosher, whose Philadelphia Police Department mug shot is here, faces a maximum of seven years in the stacks.

According to Mosher's bio--still available on Penn's web site--he previously worked as a tenured professor in Stanford University's Religious Studies Department and, while at Penn, "participated in senior computing and academic information planning bodies." (1 page)

RELATED: Pete Townshend and the "I was doing research" defense.