Posted on 02/21/2006 10:02:21 AM PST by Colofornian
PROVO — A Brigham Young University assistant professor has resigned after being arrested Thursday night for investigation into allegations that he taped and watched pornographic videos of a 14-year-old girl on his computer.
The 63-year-old man is being investigated for sexual exploitation of a minor, a second-degree felony, and voyeurism, a class-A misdemeanor, after Provo police found a video clip of a girl undressing on a laptop computer belonging to BYU.
The Deseret Morning News does not name arrested persons until charges are filed.
Acting on a tip, Provo police approached the man at his home and took him to the police station where it was determined the information he provided was sufficient to warrant his arrest, said Provo Police Capt. Rick Healey.
Police confiscated the computer and are continuing to search for other videos they believe are on the computer's hard drive, Healey said.
Investigators believe the videos were created using a hidden camera in either a bedroom or a bathroom and were done without the victim's knowledge, Healey said.
The man was released Friday afternoon after posting $7,500 bail. He will be in 4th District Court next Friday for a first appearance.
The man worked as an assistant professor of information systems at the Marriott School of Management and has been teaching at BYU since 1988 until he resigned Friday afternoon, said BYU spokeswoman Carri Jenkins said.
"The situation is of grave concern to us," she said. "We are taking the appropriate measures to handle this situation. We are cooperating fully with the Provo City Police Department."
According to the probable cause statement filed in 4th District Court by Provo police, the man told investigators that he was sexually aroused by watching the videos and that is why he kept the files on his computer.
Pornography is a major factor in a large majority of sexual abuse or assault crimes, Healey said.
Healey said the three detectives that work solely in Provo's sex crimes unit are "completely overwhelmed" by the volume of investigations.
Clinical psychologist Allan Roe said he sees close to 25 people a week in his Orem office, many of whom are struggling with addictions to explicit magazine, movie and Internet images.
"One out of three (people) that I deal with have pornography problems," said Roe, who specializes in treating people with such addictions. "It's an ongoing issue and it's only getting worse. And I only deal with the ones who want to solve the problem."
The crippling problem hurts not only the addicted individual but the spouse, children and the community at large, Roe said.
"People ... in high positions, political or financial positions or church positions, (that you would think) wouldn't have those kinds of problems. We all know that they do. We deal with them every day."
The judicial system is also dealing with the effects of pornography.
This past Thursday, Lehi resident Roger Wilkins was sentenced to one year in the Utah County Jail for sexually abusing a young girl.
Fourth District Court Judge Lynn Davis ruled that Wilkins should undergo some type of pornography-addiction treatment, because of its impact on his behavior.
"I'm convinced that there is a genesis at length between (viewing pornography) and the unfortunate activity here," Davis told Wilkins.
So asking for tenure is definitely out.
Bring 'em young.
Auditioning for his newest wife?
Get the Lysol.
I've read this statement on every thread about Mormonism ever posted on Free Republic. Most of them are. It's those that aren't we have to watch out for!
Being Mormon doesn't automatically make you a good person any more than being Republican does.
Unfortunately, you're correct. We always hope that every member will grow to be more like Christ, but anyone can fall.
How very tragic and sad for everyone involved.
According to who?... not the NEA.
The guy is a pig but they better get some sense into this girls head soon
Indeed, in the olden days, Brigham Young did "Bring 'em young"--as did Joseph Smith. They, at least, didn't ambush the innocence of such teens by assuming a side-door route (a video camera). They walked directly through the front door of marriage, gaining family consent. [Then again, even current LDS don't consider polygamy a front-door route; the point is, they didn't sneak into the presence of these young teens even if the polygamy rouse was a sneaky doctrine].
45-year-old Brigham married 16-year-old Lucy Bigelow in 1847; that was three years after he married 15-year-old Clarissa Clara Decker. (To see the ages of Brigham's wives, go here: http://www.familysearch.org/Eng/search/frameset_search.asp?PAGE=ancestorsearchresults.asp).
That doesn't beat Joseph Smith's record of marrying a 14-year-old in May, 1843 (Helen Mar Kimball). http://www.familysearch.org/Eng/search/frameset_search.asp?PAGE=ancestorsearchresults.asp
That is odd. Steve Young(QB) is Brighams great great grandson. I heard Steve liked them young to.
Only took three posts...
The underlying assumption we all make is that anybody of any religious stripe is good --or has the potential for exaltation into the "good stratosphere" based upon their measure of goodness. Jesus did not share this presumption: "'Why do you call me good?' Jesus answered. 'No one is good--except God alone.'" (Mark 10:18).
Jesus levels the playing field before the cross by undercutting any spiritual pride that presumes we don't Him as our great physician ("It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick...For I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners."--Mt 9:12) Jesus is for the person who understands the cancerous diagnosis of sin.
We're all spiritually unhealthy and depraved [depraved doesn't mean being as bad as we can be; it's just no part of our being is untouched by sin]. Yet that doesn't pre-empt people from accomplishing good works.
Some folks do good works and give the credit for those works to God the Holy Spirit working through them; some folks do outwardly good works and assume the credit for themselves, stealing God's glory. Theft of God's glory thereby defeats any act otherwise qualifying itself as "good."
As it is written, There is none righteous, no, not one: (KJV)
The 63-year-old man is being investigated
Why the investigation=resignation?
The same goes for all religions. Claiming to be of one religion or another doesn't automatically make anyone perfect. Every mortal is susceptible to temptation.
A 63-year-old assistant professor?
63-y.o. assistant professors unveil a defensive gatekeeper mentality. Can't have rambuctious whipper-snappers sticking their noses in places that defaces the rep of the church. History, in part, is for P.R. purposes to defend the status quo, not for letting truth fall where it may.
That's why historical docs in the archives of the church are under greater raps than ever...see (ex-BYU prof) Quinn's writings & what he's revealed about historical queries into church writings of gen authorites and the ensuing crackdown of access to such materials.
Only the Lord knows what in each of our hearts and minds!
To mock is careless you might attract something you wished you never tempted!
Some get gratification through sex, some by eating, hording too much, and some by tearing others down!
Pick your poison!
He who is without sin cast the first stone as the Savior would say!
Restornu,
I was simply pointing out that someone is no better, or worse for procliaming to be Christian, Mormon or otherwise. I was not denigrating your religion.
I was simply pointing out the fact, that if we trust people based upon a "label," we are doing ourselves harm.
I agree. I don't, however, see anything about his being a Mormon in the story. Does one have to a Mormon to teach at BYU?
Yes, I believe it is a requisite for teaching at BYU. One needs to be a member in good standing.
I live in Utah, and this story has been the subject of local news for several days now. I believe this is where I heard he was LDS.
"People ... in high positions, political or financial positions or church positions, (that you would think) wouldn't have those kinds of problems. We all know that they do. We deal with them every day."
I was just reiterating this comment in my original post to this thread.
Yeah, Mormons are fine,
it's the info systems types
who are the trouble.
Info systems types
couldn't cut it in DP
so they live their life
in the minor leagues
setting up computers for
secretaries and
looking up their skirts
when they're running the cables
underneath the desk.
Yep, it's quite strange that after being with the University for almost 20 years, the guy is an "assistant professor."
At Berkley this behavior is called "research".
Whose mocking? Saying a video-taping injures the innocence of a 14-year-old girl is mocking? Why don't you see things through her eyes? Not a word about the victim from you? Why not?
Whose stoning? In the context from which you quote this verse, stoning was to call for the death penalty for sex offenders. Who has advocated the death of this man?
In fact, if you review my post #13, I already pointed out part of what your scolding was all about: That we're all without sin...I wrote, "We're all spiritually unhealthy and depraved [depraved doesn't mean being as bad as we can be; it's just no part of our being is untouched by sin]."
Are you consistent? Do you think John the Baptist needed a scolding for pointing out the sin of Herod [the act which John eventually lost his head over]? Did John the Baptist need to hear Jesus' words about "casting the first stone" at Herod? (I mean, John the Baptist wasn't without sin, was he?) Public accountability is a good thing. It pre-empts rug-sweeping.
Finally, in light of what else I mentioned in post #13 (I quote it again in the final graph below) -- I think what this man may have done or what any sex offender has done--doesn't disqualify them from heaven. Heaven is grace-based, and our sin is exactly what qualifies us for applying the cross to our lives.
What is spiritually dangerous is to say "future god" [Lds doctrine] and "sex offender" [Lds authority & priest] in the same sentence. For example, can you imagine a Pharisee that Jesus talked about--one who was a whitewashed sepulchre on the inside--claiming he was destined for godhood?
"Jesus levels the playing field before the cross by undercutting any spiritual pride that presumes we don't need Him as our great physician ("It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick...For I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners."--Mt 9:12) Jesus is for the person who understands the cancerous diagnosis of sin."
Correction: I meant That we're all with sin!!!
Life spans tended to be shorter, and parents who wanted to see grandchildren started sooner.
His name is? Is he underage? Why are they hiding his name? Is he an official in the Democrapic Party?
Agreed. Epidemic proportions which runs across all religious and non-religious and denominational lines. This is not unique to any one faith, nor more prominent in any one faith more than another.
I offer only one distinction: When a leader in any given religious/denominational body "falls" in such a way, usually that person has not portended to be destined for future godhood. Those besieged by sexuality issues usually understand the yawning gap between the presence of the Holy God we'll encounter one day, and the sheer lack of such holiness in our earthly lives. Most folks are under no illusion that we're gonna somehow merit a worthy life of exalted godhood.
So when certain men go around and wear the doctrine of "future god" on their t-shirts [not literally, but illustratively], news articles like these indicate a bigger fall has just occurred than at first glance. I mean, a man in his 60s is closer to not only death but godhood in the light of LDS doctrine.
The biggest difference is we married young men and we were their ONLY wives.
Unlike Brigham Young and Joseph Smith who were older men in posistions of great authority who were also into serial marriages to teenagers.
Good questions. Somebody help us out here. There are really only two possible reasons for not mentioning a name in an article like this.
The first reason is to protect the victim. If you name the suspected perpetrator, in some cases it makes it obvious who the victim was.
The more likely reason in this case is that the Deseret News is a church-owned newspaper, and therefore wants to protect its own.
Can anybody shed any light on this?
(Denny Crane: "I Don't Want To Socialize With A Pinko Liberal Democrat Commie. Say What You Like About Republicans. We Stick To Our Convictions. Even When We Know We're Dead Wrong.")
We all have relatives who have married young (my extended family--also 17), even in more recent times. The differences I'm talking about is that your Mom & other family members we know usually made individual personal decisions to marry. They were not arranged by family members.
It's also true that it wasn't unique for non-Mormon family members in the 1800s to be involved in arranging marriages for their teen-aged children--even young children (and this is still done today in other cultures). The difference was that these children were not the 8th or 12th or umpteenth wife; nor [as Colorcountry excellently points out] were 14-year-old girls usually wedlocked with 37-year-old men; or 15-year-olds with 42-year-old men; or 16s with 45 yo.
I guess they'd better give her X-ray vision:
Investigators believe the videos were created using a hidden camera in either a bedroom or a bathroom and were done without the victim's knowledge, Healey said.
http://www.sltrib.com/search/ci_3522566
I'm not trying to justify the conduct, but I think there's a little bit of risk in viewing this solely through contemporary eyes. I'm speaking of Brigham Young, not the current situation.
As to the adjunct professor, total lack of self-control and incredible amount of stupidity. Sad, sick and busted. I feel sorry for the girl. That's got to give you the creeps when it's not even safe to be alone.
Many moons ago I read about a guy who owned a big house close to a college campus. He broke the house up into apartments. Girls staying there complained to police, after hearing scuffling noises in the walls. Turned out the owner had crawl spaces, mirrors, peep holes and even had the bathroom lights wired so a light would come on in his apartment when the bathroom light was turned on.
I've also made emergency calls on bars (fires), and found peep holes into the women's bathroom from the office area. Unfortunately, it's more common than most people think.
Yes, it is more common than some would think.
In my business, we replace mirror in some commercial projects. You would be surprised how much can be revealed through tiny little scrapes on the backside of mirrors, if there is also a peep hole through the wall.
As a woman, it gives me the willies.
One does not have to be a member of the LDS Church to teach at BYU. I went to BYU. I had several professors who were not members of the LDS Church. They are however held to the same high standards regardless of what their faith is.
I looked him up on the BYU catalog--he certainly is BYU born and bred--he has four degrees all from BYU--BA 1968, MA 1970, MBA 1972, and PhD 1994.
Again, you intentionally neglect the broader context. We're not simply talking about age disparity only, but age disparity within the realm of a complex dynamic of "sister-wives" competing for the attention of a husband (not to mention countless children competing for the same thing from a father).
I think were you to ask the average 19th century wife (if you could), their answer would be the same: "Would you prefer a 'less demanding' husband or one in which you're going to have trouble demanding attention from him due to being a small splinter of his spousal pie?" If anything, women want more attention (the right kind, of course) from their husbands, not less.
The only real, measurable "positives" plural wives had going for them in context to their era was division of labor and division of childcare.
As for provision, yes, Joseph and Brigham had the resources to provide for numerous wives and children. Many other polygamists chopped up family resources so many ways the same could not be said of them. Certainly, Joseph and Brigham had no more time to allot to their wives than any other polygamist. Their "power" did not provide more than 24 hours in a day.
Bottom line: Is a "big fish" in a small pond a great catch if you have to devour alongside 25-40 others?
Muhammed beat both Young and Smith... married sweet Aisha when she was just six. Marriage was consummated when she was nine. He was 53. We have a Winner !!!
We also have a pattern.
Each were polygamists. Each were religious founders or prophets whose message contradicted scriptures that came before them (For example, Joseph calling all Christian professors "corrupt" and their creeds an "abomination"; and Brigham equating God to have been Adam--a doctrine since revoked by LDS).
Each redefined Jesus, reducing him to primarily a prophet (Islam) or elder brother (LDS) who was also merely a spirit brother of Lucipher (vs. Lucipher's creator--the traditional scriptural understanding of Jesus).
Big difference between recognizing Jesus as only a mere creature (LDS & Islam) vs. the Creator of all creatures (traditional Christianity).
This problem developed when latter revelations were not judged by former ones. The Bible implies that is not only lacking discernment ("test all things" says John in 1 John), but it's ignoble behavior. The Bereans, says Luke, were more "noble" because they searched the Scriptures to see if what they heard was true (Acts 17:11).
So why are you discrminating on age if that is what they agree on!
there are times it has nothing to do with power or whatever else you might conclude sometimes it is just plain LOVE!
It is the Lord who was disatisfied even those I am among those who find blaming Joseph the messinger instead taking responsibility for many who only give lip sevice!
JS-H 1
19 I was answered that I must join none of them, for they were all wrong; and the Personage who addressed me said that all their creeds were an abomination in his sight; that those professors were all corrupt; that: “they draw near to me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me, they teach for doctrines the commandments of men, having a form of godliness, but they deny the power thereof.”
and Brigham equating God to have been Adam--a doctrine since revoked by LDS).
This was never Doctrine, discourses are not Doctrine!
You have discourses I have them we all have them that is not the say as revelation!
LOL...In California they would consider him for Department Chair.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.