Former Merrimack Professor Pleads Guilty to Child Porn Charges

A former Merrimack College professor, formerly of Danvers, and now lives in Beverly, pleaded guilty to child pornography charges in federal court on Wednesday, according to the Salem News.

Gary Spring, 61, will remain free on a $30,000 bond pending sentencing scheduled in December, according to reports.

Spring pleaded guilty to having over 300 images of nude, prepubescent girls under the age of 12 on his college-owned computer. Spring was a professor at Merrimack College in North Andover for a decade and lived in Danvers at the time he was charged before moving to Broughton Drive in Beverly earlier this year, according to the Salem News.

Spring was the administrator of Merrimack College’s residential summer camp for middle- and high school-aged students, according to WCVB.com. He also served as the chairman of the civil engineering department.

Spring was charged in a criminal complaint in September of 2014 with possession of child pornography, according to the U.S. Attorneys Office in Boston.

According to the criminal complaint, in June 2014, Merrimack College in North Andover, Mass. uncovered suspicious activity associated with one of the college’s loaner computers through virus threat detection alerts. An internal investigation determined that the computer had been loaned out to Spring, and that Spring had been logged on during the time the alerts were triggered.

Further investigation determined that the computer was used to access child pornography, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office. Search warrants were executed at Spring’s office at Merrimack College and his residence in Danvers. Spring was arrested after it was confirmed that he possessed child pornography.

The charging statute provides a sentence of no greater than 20 years in prison, five years to a lifetime supervised release, and a fine of $250,000, according to the Attorney’s Office. Actual sentences for federal crimes are typically less than the maximum penalties.