TMCnet News
Danvers man charged with possessing child pornography [The Salem News, Beverly, Mass.](Salem News (MA) Via Acquire Media NewsEdge) Sept. 20--DANVERS -- A Danvers resident who headed Merrimack College's civil engineering program and ran a residential summer program for middle and high school students was arrested Friday on child pornography charges. Gary S. Spring, 61, of 4 Alden St., Unit 2, was taken into custody following a search of his campus office and his home Friday morning by FBI agents, following an investigation that started with virus alerts popping up on a Merrimack College laptop. According to an affidavit by an FBI special agent, during questioning by police after the search, Spring admitted that he regularly viewed child pornography, and admitted destroying evidence after learning that the North Andover police were looking into the discovery of child porn on the college's computer. That evidence included two "thumb drives" containing six gigabytes of images, and having his own laptop "wiped" and then dropping it off at a town electronics recycling event. Merrimack College campus police contacted North Andover police in June after the school's IT department began looking into virus alerts that were popping up on the school-owned laptop that Spring had signed out, according to the affidavit. The IT department was receiving email notices about the virus alerts from the laptop's anti-virus program, unbeknownst to Spring. Spring had signed out the laptop earlier in June and told the IT department that he would be using it to help him administer the summer program, which is funded by federal grants. The virus alerts related to a file folder with the name "little katya" and images with the name "Chiquititas Melina." Investigators found 40 images in the folder. Investigators confirmed that Spring had logged on to the computer using the campus Wi-Fi network and also found surveillance video from the cafeteria showing him using the laptop there at that time. During two interviews with police in June, Spring insisted that he'd noticed nothing unusual, including the virus alerts, and said he had planned to use the laptop for PowerPoint presentations during the summer camp. He also suggested that he had left the laptop unattended in the cafeteria while still logged in. Investigators conducted a forensic examination of the computer, and earlier this month, learned that there were no images on the computer's hard drive, but that there were hundreds of "thumbnails," small preview images that would have appeared when, for example, a thumb drive or a disk were installed. North Andover police also learned that Spring had made numerous attempts to enter his office, trying to retrieve an external hard drive, after the interviews. On Friday, questioned again by police, Spring admitted that he "freaked out" after he was first interviewed and described destroying the thumb drives and wiping his home computer, the affidavit states. He handed investigators another thumb drive he said he'd used to store child porn. During his arrest, police found another thumb drive on him, which he had not disclosed, according to the affidavit. And he admitted that he had also viewed child pornography on a second Merrimack laptop, the affidavit said. According to a copy of Spring's Merrimack College profile page, which has been removed from the school's website, Spring has a doctorate, master's and bachelor's degrees in engineering from the University of Massachusetts and more than 30 years of experience in academia and engineering, primarily traffic engineering. He also holds an engineering license from the state and has testified as an expert witness. He ran the "Summer Transportation Institute," a four-week summer program at the school for high school students. A call to his federal public defender, Behzad Mirhashem, was not returned Friday evening. If convicted, Spring faces up to 20 years in federal prison. In an unusual move for the U.S. Attorney's office, they are also inviting anyone with questions or further information to contact them at 617-748-3274. Courts reporter Julie Manganis can be reached at 978-338-2521, via email at [email protected] or on Twitter @SNJulieManganis. ___ (c)2014 The Salem News (Beverly, Mass.) Visit The Salem News (Beverly, Mass.) at www.salemnews.com Distributed by MCT Information Services |