Award-winning literature professor is jailed for possessing massive child porn collection with more than 500,000 movies and images
- Kirk Nesset, 58, was sentenced to six years and four months in federal prison, federal judge said on Monday
- His sentencing also included 10 years of supervised release after jail time
- Nesset resigned from Allegheny College after he was arrested in October 2014 and pleaded guilty last year to receiving and sharing child porn
- His collection of 540,000 child porn movies and images, including infant rapes, were cataloged into specific folders to denote their type
- He told authorities he used materials to find 'solace' and to 'release steam'
- Nesset won the Drue Heinz Literature Prize in 2007 for a collection of short stories called Paradise Road
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3437724/Professor-faces-5-years-likely-child-porn.html
An award-winning contemporary literature professor was sentenced to six years and four months in federal prison for his massive child pornography collection that topped a half million images, a federal judge said on Monday.
Kirk Nesset's sentencing also included 10 years of supervised release after he serves his time.
The 58-year-old 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.
Nesset has anxiety, depression, obsessive-compulsive disorder and is bi-polar and, 'for Kirk, obsessive collecting was more important than viewing,' defense attorneys Meagan Temple and Michael Bruzzese wrote in a pre-sentencing memo filed last week.
The defense attorneys contend Nesset sought mental health treatment for years, but because his therapist would have had to report the child pornography addiction to authorities, Nesset did not disclose it.
As a result, his symptoms were treated but not their underlying cause and defense attorneys argued he deserved mercy because he has actively sought treatment since his arrest.
However, Assistant U.S. Attorney Christian Trabold contended Nesset's collection of 540,000 child porn movies and images including infant rapes — many cataloged into specific computer folders to denote their type — warranted harsh punishment.
'Nesset possessed numerous movies and images depicting babies and toddlers subjected to horrific acts of sexual abuse,' Trabold wrote.
Nesset told authorities he used the materials to find 'solace' and to 'release steam,' Trabold wrote