Univ. of Virginia dean pleads not guilty in child porn case
CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. - A University of Virginia associate dean has pleaded not guilty to federal child pornography charges.
Media outlets report that 50-year-old Michael G. Morris of Crozet entered his plea Tuesday in U.S. District Court in Charlottesville. A trial date hasn't been set.Morris is accused of logging onto a child porn sharing site nearly 200 times between January and October of this year.
According to an NBC report, Morris used his university e-mail account to access the explicit material, sometimes paid for through PayPal, under the name “Funshooter2006.”
A federal grand jury indicted Morris in November on two counts of distributing or receiving child porn and one count of possessing child porn involving a minor under the age of 12.
U.Va. spokesman McGregor McCance has said Morris has been suspended. Morris is associate dean of graduate programs and professor at the university's McIntire School of Commerce.