Former Rutgers Professor Charged With Child Porn Possession

SOMERSET COUNTY, NJ — A former professor at Rutgers is accused of having more than 1,000 images and videos of child pornography at his home in Franklin Township, U.S. Attorney Alina Habba announced here on Wednesday.

The man is Elliott Souder, 51, and he was charged April 30 with receipt and possession of child pornography. He appeared in Trenton federal court last Tuesday.

Souder was formerly employed as a writing professor at Rutgers New Brunswick, in the English department. He no longer works for Rutgers, said the university.

When police executed a search warrant at Souder's home in 2022, they said they found more than 1,000 images and videos of child pornography on his computer's hard drive. Some of the images and videos depicted prepubescent children, toddlers and infants and sadomasochism on children, according to federal prosecutors.

According to this federal criminal complaint against Souder, which was unsealed Wednesday, federal agents said they found on his computer:

• About 352 videos of prepubescent child pornography
• About 15 images and three videos of sadomasochism on or with children
• About nine images and five images of infant and toddler pornography

Souder received rave reviews from Rutgers students on RateMyProfessors.com, where he was called "Super Souder" and "the savior of the Rutgers Writing Program."

"He is hands-down one of the best professors at Rutgers in the english department," wrote one student in 2018. "I found his teaching style and his comments extremely helpful. If you have the ability to take any of his classes do it!!!!!!!!"

"Mr. Souder is the best professor that I have ever taken here at Rutgers," wrote another. "He teaches his students to ultimately engage with all of the texts that we read. He gives efficient feedback on all five essays... TAKE HIM!"

"He is the best instructor i've ever seen. If you want to learned to become a creative writer he will help you," said a third.

He is facing five to 20 years in prison.

This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice. Led by U.S. Attorneys’ Offices and the Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section (CEOS) in the Justice Department’s Criminal Division, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state and local resources to better locate, apprehend and prosecute individuals who exploit children as well as to identify and rescue victims.

For more information about Project Safe Childhood, visit justice.gov/psc.