An ISU freshman was arrested by ISU Police Monday after police found images on his computer depicting minors engaged in or subject to sexual activities.

Nicholas Burch, freshman in mechanical engineering, was charged with three counts of sexual exploitation of a minor, an aggravated misdemeanor.

ISU Police Capt. Gene Deisinger said ISU Police began the investigation Sept. 8. An officer discovered a shared folder on the ISU network he suspected may contain child pornography after he did a computer keyword search.

After further investigation, police linked the computer with the shared files to Burch. Police executed a search warrant Sept. 15 at Burch’s residence hall room, 5236 Knapp Hall.

According to an affidavit filed with the Story County Clerk of Court, police seized a laptop computer and several other media storage devices.

ISU Police analyzed the computer and equipment and discovered images of minors engaged in sexual activities. Deisinger said there was not a large number of images found on the computer.

According to the affidavit, Burch waived his rights per the Miranda warning and admitted he downloaded the images onto his computer. He also admitted he knew the images depicted minors engaged in prohibited sex acts.

Deisinger said he did not believe the student was intentionally sharing the files.

The images found on Burch’s computer contained females who police estimate were under the age of 10, he said. Three of the images found on the computer have previously been identified as child pornography in other ISU Police investigations. The cases are unrelated.

Deisinger said this recent case is the seventh child pornography-related case at Iowa State since May 2002. Six of the cases involved ISU students, and one case involved former men’s basketball assistant coach Randy Brown.

Deisinger said he did not know statistics about child pornography charges at other universities and was unable to compare ISU statistics with other schools.

“Given the large number of users of the network … it does not seem to me to be an unusually large number,” Deisinger said.

Although the numbers do not seem too high, Deisinger said every time someone disseminates images of child pornography, it helps increase the demand for it.

“If we help negatively affect the demand, we hope that will affect the supply,” Deisinger said.

After Burch surrendered to police Monday he was processed and transported to the Story County Jail and held on $10,000 bond. He was later released.

Burch could not be reached for comment.

If found guilty, Burch could face a maximum of two years in jail and a fine ranging from $500 to $5,000 for each charge.