The Department of Public Safety investigation into child pornography in Welch Hall is not an isolated case, DPS officials said.

DPS Director Jerry Stewart said he knows of at least four other cases in Ames in the past five years in which child pornography was discovered on campus.

Stewart said two cases were in residence hall rooms and one was in a private apartment.

Individuals involved in those cases pleaded guilty to the charges, he said.

DPS officers also obtained statements from witnesses and executed a search warrant on an Ames Police Department case regarding child pornography at a local business, Stewart said.

There are several levels of charges regarding child pornography, he said.

The suspect in this case faces possible charges of sexual exploitation of a minor, which comes with a fine of up to $50,000 if convicted.

“The severity is based upon the content of the material and associated acts,” Stewart said.

The crime resurfaced in Ames last week when DPS officers executed a search warrant in Welch Hall and seized computer equipment.

Stewart and Birch-Welch-Roberts Hall Director Ryan Gildersleeve declined to comment on the investigation.

Child pornography is also appearing on campuses around the nation.

A psychology student at Texas A&M University pleaded not guilty in court March 27 to charges of intent to distribute child pornography. A visiting professor at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee has been accused of downloading child pornography onto school computers.

A former Baylor University professor charged with possession of child pornography in July 2000 pleaded guilty to the charge in court March 26.

Mike Bowman, assistant director of Academic Information Technologies, said university officials have complete access to all information and files on the ISU server but rarely check the files.

“We don’t do monitoring,” Bowman said. “Generally, we only provide material under court order or university administrator approval.”

Bowman said he has access to all files managed by Academic Information Technologies, including e-mail, Web pages, programs and data files. The office does not check files without permission from authorities.

“We’re completely guided by a court order through legal services,” he said.