Virginia Commonwealth University police have turned over to the FBI a case in which a man is charged with downloading child pornography from a public-access computer in the school's Cabell Library.
The Richmond Times-Dispatch reported December 10 that campus police said they witnessed Richmond resident Dwight E. Whorley download the material on the third floor of the library November 21. After they arrested Whorley, police obtained a search warrant for his residence, where they found a large cache of child pornography, including books involving child sexual abuse and incest, as well as six binders of e-mail messages related to child porn.
FBI spokesperson Mary Johlie told the newspaper that Whorley faces a much stricter penalty if he's convicted under federal law, which brings up to five years in prison, than state law, where the offense is a misdemeanor with only a $500 fine.
Posted December 14, 1998.