Award-Winning Professor Faces 5 Years For Child Porn, Likely More

PITTSBURGH (AP) - An award-winning contemporary literature professor faces at least five years in federal prison when he's sentenced for his massive child pornography collection - and likely more.

That's because a federal judge in Erie agrees with federal prosecutors that guidelines for Monday's sentencing of Kirk Nesset call for between 12 years, seven months and 15 years, eight months in prison.

Nesset resigned from Allegheny College in Meadville after he was arrested in October 2014 and pleaded guilty last year to possessing, receiving and sharing child pornography.

His attorney has argued that Nesset has mental health issues that were complicated by his fear of revealing his porn proclivities from therapists, and deserves mercy. But federal prosecutors in Erie say his collection of 540,000 child porn images, including infant rapes, warrant harsh punishment.

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