Former Indiana college professor pleads guilty to child pornography charges

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A Madison County Sheriff's Department were attempting to serve felony warrants when they were shot at by one of the suspect who was in bed at a Motel 6 in Anderson, Indiana. (Madison County Sheriff's Dept./BODY CAMS+ /TMX) 

A former professor at Butler University in Indianapolis pleaded guilty to child pornography offenses on Monday after being charged in January 2022.

Former philosophy professor Tiberiu Popa, 53, was charged with 10 counts of possession of child pornography last year, online records show. As part of the plea deal, eight of the counts were dropped.

Popa is reportedly required to serve two years of probation. He was originally scheduled to serve jail sentences that were later suspended by the deal, according to FOX 59 Indianapolis.

Police were first tipped off when they noticed Popa's email was used to upload 24 files of child pornography to an online program, FOX 59 reported. The illicit photographs reportedly showed children between 4 and 6 years old.

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Former philosophy professor Tiberiu Popa, 53, was charged with 10 counts of possession of child pornography and pleaded guilty to two. (Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department)

Authorities obtained a warrant to search Popa's home and electronics, where they found a child pornography folder on his computer. The children in the images were between 6 and 10 years of age.

According to court documents obtained by FOX 59, Popa denied looking at child pornography at first but later said he viewed it out of curiosity. He told investigators that he was "repulsed" by the images, but tended to seek out shocking material when he was depressed.

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Entrance sign at Butler University in Indianapolis, Indiana. (Education Images/Universal Images Group via Getty Images)

Popa was a chairperson and professor at Butler's Department of Philosophy, Religion and Classics. He was dismissed by the university when the charges were announced.

"We are deeply disturbed by these allegations of such an abhorrent crime," Butler University said in a previous statement.

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Butler University's campus green in Indianapolis, Indiana. (Education Images/Universal Images Group via Getty Images)

Fox News Digital reached out to Butler University for a statement, but has not heard back.