Villanova University professor facing child porn charges

Radnor police said a Villanova University professor has been charged with possession of hundreds of child pornography images after investigators were alerted to his alleged activities by university officials.

Police say Christopher Haas, 60, of Paoli, was arrested Monday and then charged with hundreds of counts.

David Tedjeske, director of public safety at Villanova University, outlined some details of the case during a press conference with Rad- nor police Thursday afternoon.

“The university takes the security of its electronic systems very seriously and monitors Internet activity across campus for inappropriate use of those resources,” Tedjeske said. “Our security alerted us to a suspicious condition involving Internet access in late March of this year. The subsequent investigation revealed that a faculty member in the History/Classical Studies department had accessed child pornography from a computer in a common area of an office in the [St. Augustine] center.”

Campus security then turned over the informa- tion to Radnor police who followed up with the investigation and made the arrest, he said.

Radnor police Lt. Andrew Block said their investigation began March 23 when they were told about the alleged activity on the campus computer.

“As a result of this investigation … it was determined that over the years from 2012 … that [Haas] had over 400 photographs of child pornography,” Block said.

According to Block, on March 25 Haas was charged with 415 counts of sexual abuse of children – stemming from his alleged possession of the 415 child pornography images.

Haas was also charged with criminal use of a communications facility and possession of an instrument of crime. The child pornography and the criminal use of a communication charges are felonies and the possession of an instrument of crime is a misdemeanor.

“This is also an excellent example of the university and the police department … working together collectively to investigate to bring this person to justice,” Block said.

Block said the case is still an ongoing investigation but there was no information that Haas shared the images with anyone else.

Although Radnor only recently began investigating Haas in the past week, other law enforcement entities had executed search warrants against Haas in the past.

In 2012, Radnor police were notified by Homeland Security that they were investigating Haas. Block said Radnor officers assisted in the execution of the search warrant but the case was being investigated by Homeland Security. It is not clear why charges were not filed at that time.

According to Block, when Radnor began its recent investigation they contacted Homeland Security which then worked with Radnor. Block said the charges filed were in connection with the images that date back to the Homeland Security investigation that began in 2012.

Block said Haas was arrested and arraigned Monday in front of Magisterial District Judge Leon Hunter in Newtown Square and then incarcerated on 10 percent of $50,000 bail. He was also ordered to undergo a psychological review prior to being released from prison.

Haas waived his right to a preliminary hearing on Thursday.