Penn State president: Fraternity's Facebook page "sad, offensive"

STATE COLLEGE, Pa. -- A now-suspended Pennsylvania State University fraternity's Facebook posting of photos of nude and partly nude women, some of them asleep or passed out, is sad and offensive and could lead to some students being expelled, the university's president said Wednesday.

"I can't imagine anybody that's not appalled by the alleged behavior," Eric Barron said in an interview.

The national leaders of Kappa Delta Rho on Tuesday suspended the Penn State chapter for a year over the photo scandal and said it would be reorganized.

Police in State College, home to Penn State's main campus, are investigating allegations the fraternity operated a private Facebook page on which members shared frat house pictures of the women. According to a warrant, the invitation-only page had 144 active members, including students and alumni.

Barron said of the webpage: "It's very sad, and it's very offensive."

Police said some of the photos they had seen showed women in "sexual or embarrassing positions." While some of the women photographed appeared to be aware their pictures were being taken, others did not, police said in court documents.

Police have said they have identified at least two photographs that could lead to criminal charges but the investigation is continuing.

A young man who answered the door on Tuesday at Kappa Delta Rho said the fraternity had no comment. No trespassing signs were posted there on Wednesday.

Barron said the university is working with police to determine the number of offenders and victims and will hold those responsible accountable for what they did.

"This is the kind of behavior that can get someone expelled," he said.

Penn State's flagship campus in State College has about 40,000 undergraduate students. About 4,000 of them belong to one of the 50 fraternity chapters, including Kappa Delta Rho, governed by the Interfraternity Council.

Barron, speaking to reporters at the state Capitol in Harrisburg, was asked about whether the fraternity system as a whole needs to be reviewed. He said the focus should be on dealing with people who act inappropriately, not targeting the system.

"I think if you punish those that are responsible, we all learn, and if you punish everybody, then I don't think we really all learn," he said.

Police were tipped off about the Facebook account on Jan. 18 by a former fraternity member who shared printouts of some of the pictures. The printouts were included in some of the court documents provided Tuesday to news outlets; police later said that was a mistake.

State College assistant police chief John Gardner told CBS News Tuesday the photos showed "primarily females in various states of undress."

"I don't want to get into numbers, but they were pretty disturbing," Gardner said. "We are looking for any victims, any potential victims, to come forward."

Police said anyone who posted the photos could face misdemeanor charges of harassment or invasion of privacy, with a fine being the most likely penalty. They also said they expected some women would only want to have the photos removed and not press charges.