College Professor, Accused Of Watching Child Porn On Plane, In Court Monday
Nov. 27 2011, Published 9:11 a.m. ET
UPDATE: Smith pleaded not guilty in court Monday morning. The judge ordered him held in lieu of $75,000 cash bail and a pretrial hearing was set for Dec. 27.
A University of Utah professor of materials science and engineering, accused of watching child porn on his laptop during a cross-country Delta flight, will hear the charges against him in a Boston courtroom on Monday.
As we previously reported, Dr. Grant D. Smith was arrested on a charge of child pornography possession Saturday by authorities in Massachusetts immediately after his Utah-to-Boston flight landed at Logan Airport.
A fellow passenger in first class on flight number 270 told the attendants, who subsequently alerted officials. A passenger took a cell phone pic of the professor viewing a child porn video, CNN affiliate WCVB reported.
Smith -- a married 47-year-old father-of-two from Cottonwood Heights, Utah -- was reportedly traveling to Boston for a work-related function. He's been placed on administrative leave pending results of the ensuing investigation.
University officials said Smith will be terminated if the accusations are true.
"Professor Smith deserves a full and fair investigation into this issue," the school said in a statement to its campus paper, The Daily Utah Chronicle. "The University of Utah, however, has no tolerance for the viewing or possessing of child pornography by any of its employees, regardless of where it occurs."
Smith remained in custody in Boston on $15,000 bond early Monday.
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