A federal employee who had adjunct professor status at the University of Arizona was arrested Wednesday in connection with child pornography, officials said.
Peter Cotty is an employee of the USDA's Agricultural Research Service, which has offices and labs on the UA campus, but is not part of the university, said UA spokesman, Chris Sigurdson.
Cotty has a "courtesy title" of adjunct professor, but is not a paid UA employee and doesn't teach classes, Sigurdson said.
"He has no status as an employee," Sigurdson said. "We have directed him to not come on campus unless he is directed otherwise by university officials, and to have no contact with anyone at the UA."
The Pima County Sheriff's Department received several cyber tips from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, saying that an electronic service provider reported that one of their users uploaded child pornography through their website, said Deputy James Allerton, a PCSD spokesman.
Detectives reviewed the images and determined that they depicted children under the age of 18 nude and engaging in sexual acts, Allerton said.
Detectives identified Cotty as the user and served a search warrant at his home, seizing several electronic devices with images and videos of children in sexual acts, Allerton said.
Cotty was booked into the Pima County jail on five counts of sexual exploitation of a minor, Allerton said.
