Utah professor Grant D. Smith asserted his innocence at a court hearing after he was allegedly caught looking at child pornography during an airline flight. According to a statement from the district attorney’s office, a passenger on Smith’s flight from Salt Lake City to Boston saw him looking at what appeared to be images of young girls performing sex acts on his laptop. The passenger alerted the flight crew, who notified law enforcement.
Smith began deleting images after a flight attendant asked him to shut down his laptop. Police who met the plane seized Smith’s laptop and cell phone, and were able to recover 66 images from the computer. Investigators are seeking a search warrant to examine the contents of the laptop and phone thoroughly. The University of Utah placed Smith on administrative leave while the case is underway. He will be fired if the allegations are found true.
