A Villanova University professor was arrested after he allegedly used both his personal computer and an on-campus computer to access child porn.
Christopher Haas, a 60-year-old associate professor in Villanova’s history and classical studies department was arrested and charged with 415 counts of sexual abuse of children and possession of an instrument of crime.
Villanova University officials say security systems alerted them to suspicious internet access on campus earlier this month. They then determined Haas accessed child porn from a computer in the common area of an office in Villanova’s St. Augustine Center. University officials immediately alerted Radnor Township Police who conducted their own investigation.
Police learned Haas was also being investigated by Homeland Security in relation to child porn he allegedly accessed on his personal computer starting in 2012. During an afternoon press conference Thursday, police said Haas had accessed over 400 images of child pornography from his home computer. An arrest warrant was issued for Haas on March 25 and he was taken into custody Monday and remanded to the Delaware County Prison.
Police say the charges are based on the child porn Haas allegedly accessed from his home computer and more charges against him are pending. Villanova’s Director of Public Safety David Tedjeske acknowledged that the school would have liked to have been alerted of Homeland Security’s investigation on Haas when it began in 2012 but also said he respected their methods.
“Obviously as the director of Public Safety for the institution I want to know about anything that could jeopardize student safety,” Tedjeske said. “At the same time I recognize the University is a private enterprise and there are limits to what law enforcement can share with any private organization be it a university or another business. We respect law enforcement’s investigation into this.”
Haas began working at Villanova in 1988 and was tenured in 1995 as an associate professor. He was relieved of all his teaching duties and is not permitted to have contact with any students.
