Utah professor in porn-on-plane case resigns job (AP)

SALT LAKE CITY ? A University of Utah professor charged with viewing child pornography on a plane has resigned.

University spokesman Remi Barron says 47-year-old Grant Smith stepped down last month, several weeks after he was arrested Nov. 26 following a flight from Salt Lake City to Boston.

He had been placed on paid administrative leave upon his arrest, but Barron tells the Deseret News ( http://bit.ly/xmWxcT) Smith left before the school started any internal disciplinary action against him.

Prosecutors say a fellow first-class passenger saw Smith viewing the images and took a cellphone photo before alerting a flight attendant.

Smith was a materials science and engineering professor at the university. He has pleaded not guilty to child pornography possession.

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Information from: Deseret News, http://www.deseretnews.com

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/crime/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20120124/ap_on_re_us/us_plane_arrest_child_porn

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