The University of Arizona has parted ways with a newly hired Phoenix medical campus department chair, after it was revealed last week that the man is facing child-pornography charges in Texas.
The Arizona Republic’s Rachel Leingang previously reported that Dr. Keping Xie was charged with possession of child pornography less than a month after the UA College of Medicine-Phoenix hired him as the chair of the Department of Interdisciplinary Oncology in late July.
UA officials told the Republic at the time that Xie had been placed on paid administrative leave but confirmed to the Star Wednesday that the university rescinded Xie’s employment offer on Tuesday.
His salary was $332,000, according to the UA.
Xie was previously employed by the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center.
A fraud investigation by campus police turned up evidence of child pornography on an external hard drive in Xie’s possession, according to documents from Harris County District Court.
UT investigators following up on an investigation involving tampering with government records served a search warrant on Xie on Jan. 26, seizing electronics owned by the university and Xie’s personal equipment.
Once investigators turned up what they believed to be evidence of child pornography, the electronics were turned over to the Houston Police Department for a more thorough forensic examination, court documents show.
Detectives with the crimes against children unit identified five separate images on Xie’s hard drive that depicted prepubescent and adolescent girls in sexual situations, according to court documents.
Xie was charged with one count of possession of child pornography on Aug. 20, roughly three weeks after the UA announced his hiring.
His bond was set at $25,000 and an arraignment scheduled for Oct. 3, which was ultimately reset at Xie’s request.
He’s now scheduled to be arraigned on Nov. 13 in Harris County District Court.
Xie’s lawyer, Nathan Mays, said Xie disputes the charges.
