An award-winning contemporary literature professor will resign after federal agents arrested the northwestern Pennsylvania man on child pornography charges.
Fifty-seven-year-old Kirk Nesset, of Meadville, was released after appearing Wednesday before a federal magistrate in Erie.
Allegheny College President James Mullen Jr. says Thursday that Nesset advised the college of the charges and would be resigning.
According to a nine-page FBI complaint, an agent traced computer files shared in a peer-to-peer network to a Nesset's computer address in August. Nesset listed addresses in Prescott, Arizona and Meadville, where the college is located about 90 miles north of Pittsburgh.
A search of Nesset's external hard drive revealed thousands of images and movies, some showing adult men having sex with girls as young as 8.
His public defender declined comment Thursday.
