Aviation: First class passenger arrested on suspicion of possession of child porn

47 year old Grant D Smith is having a bad year. He's recently divorced and now he's under arrest in Boston, Massachusetts on charges of possessing illegal images of children engaged in sexual acts.

Smith was flying from Utah to Boston to attend a conference when, it is alleged, he viewed images of child pornography on his laptop computer. A fellow passenger saw the images and took photos of the screen using the camera on his mobile phone.

Next, the witness reported what he had seen to a flight attendant who asked Smith to turn off his laptop. Before doing so, it is alleged, Smith tried to delete the images.

But the witness was persistent and, from the plane, e-mailed a contact on the ground, asking that the police be informed. When the Delta Airlines flight landed, police detained Smith and asked if they could see his laptop. Smith agreed and the state police found images which they say were of naked or near-naked children as young as six years old, they said in a statement issued yesterday.

The University of Utah has suspended Smith, saying that he is innocent until proved guilty but that the University " has no tolerance for the viewing or possessing of child pornography by any of its employees, regardless of where it occurs."

Smith was granted bail on condition that he provides a cash surety of USD75,000, has no unsupervised contact with any child under the age of 16, surrenders his passport and does not use the internet for other than work purposes.