72 yr old University of Virginia Faculty Member Charged with Possession of Child Pornography

 A longtime University of Virginia faculty member is behind bars, charged with two counts of possessing child pornography.



Tuesday, August 2, officers with the UVA Police Department arrested and charged 72-year-old Walter Francis Korte Jr.



Korte went before a judge in Juvenile and Domestic Relations Court Wednesday afternoon. The judge closed that bond hearing to the media, so NBC29 was not allowed inside. However, prosecutors say Korte is being held without bond.



Police say the investigation started Friday, July 29. Officers searched Korte's office in Bryan Hall and his home on Fosters Branch Road in Albemarle County. Search warrants in the case are sealed, so NBC29 is unable to report what investigators found.



The UVA Police Department says there did not appear to be a threat to children here locally.



“Any investigation like this, especially when you're dealing with something like child pornography, is taken very seriously. Our officers act and our investigators act very quickly on those kind of cases, because they are of utmost importance. So when there is a quick turnaround like that, we act quickly on that and obtain search warrants and make an arrest, in this case, very quickly,” said officer Ben Rexrode with the UVA Police Department.



A UVA website says Korte has been director of film studies in the university’s drama department since 1970. He has been placed on administrative leave.