Detectives: Ball State professor admitted viewing child pornography
MUNCIE — A Ball State University professor arrested Monday told police he had been viewing child pornography online for about three years.
Robert Earl Yadon, 68, of the 8300 block of North Yellowstone Drive, was preliminarily charged with 10 counts of child exploitation. He was released from the Delaware County jail on Monday after posting a $50,000 bond.
According to a police report, campus police on June 13, began their probe of “suspicious activity” on a computer, in the Ball Communication Building, linked to Yadon.
The investigation determined “hundreds of pornographic searches” from that computer on June 13, an affidavit said.
“Many of the pornographic photos and videos were of males who appeared between the ages of 8 to 16, were completely or semi-nude, and in some cases engaged in sexual acts,” an officer wrote.
On the morning of June 21, detectives served a search warrant at Yadon’s office, seizing “several computers and multiple USB storage devices.”
Authorities said they located several digital photographs that depict sexual conduct by children who appear to be younger than 18.
Later that morning, Yadon went to the BSU Police Department and “voluntarily spoke” to detectives, the report said.
The professor was shown a sheet with 14 images from websites he allegedly visited on his campus computer on June 13, and was asked to estimate the ages of the boys shown.
“He estimated the ages of several of the boys to be 12 to 16 years of age,” the detective wrote. “He admitted ... that he had been viewing these types of images for approximately the last three years.”
A news release issued by Ball State on Monday reflected Yadon — who joined the BSU faculty in 1987 — “was barred from campus on June 21 as a result of the investigation.”
The release also referred to Yadon as “a former university employee.”
Yadon was a professor of information and communication sciences, and had been director of the university’s Applied Research Institute, according to a Ball State website.
He became the third university employee arrested for accessing child porn on campus computers since mid-April. Ball State Police Chief James Duckworth said Monday the cases were not related.
Contact news reporter Douglas Walker at (765) 213-5851. You can also follow him on Twitter: @DouglasWalkerSP.
How Ball State police uncovered a child porn case on campus