Washington University dean of students facing porn charge

ST. LOUIS – A dean of students at Washington University in St. Louis has been indicted on federal child pornography charge, the U.S. attorney’s office in St. Louis said Monday.

Justin Carroll, 67, of University City, is charged with access with intent to view child pornography. Bond was set at $100,000. Carroll could face up to 20 years in prison if convicted. His attorney, Paul D’Agrosa, did not immediately respond to a message seeking comment.

In addition to serving as dean of students, Carroll was interim athletic director at Washington University before announcing earlier this month that he was retiring for personal reasons, ending a 36-year career at the university.

An indictment said Carroll, using an alias “MOperv,” was caught with videos featuring prepubescent boys. The indictment was filed Wednesday and unsealed Monday.

U.S. Attorney Richard Callahan said investigators didn’t discover any wrongdoing connected to Carroll’s university responsibilities.

The university said in a statement that it has assisted police in the investigation and placed Carroll on leave as soon officials learned of the allegations, preventing access to students or other members of the university community and barring access to university computer network resources.

The university also launched its own investigation.

“While our investigation is ongoing, at this point, we have no reason to believe that Mr. Carroll had inappropriate interactions with any member of the university community or any participant in university programs,” the statement said.