Columbia faculty member Kevin Fuller appeared in federal court on March 31 for a hearing in which he and his lawyer discussed the status of an investigation involving Fuller’s alleged involvement in transportation of child pornography.

As reported by The Chronicle on Feb. 1, Fuller, 41, was indicted by a grand jury on Jan. 12 and charged with two counts of distribution of child pornography and one count of possession of child pornography. He was arraigned on Jan. 22 when he pleaded not guilty in front of U.S. District Judge Ruben Castillo.

The indictment followed a Nov. 19 arrest after federal agents obtained a warrant to investigate Fuller’s Oak Park residence. According to the criminal complaint filed by Michael Bruns, customs officer for Immigration and Customs Enforcement, numerous images were found on his computer of infants and prepubescent children involved in sexually explicit activity. Records show that between June 29 and July 27, Fuller accessed a Google e-mail account registered to his name 144 times, as well as 65 times from an IP address at Columbia.

According to the criminal complaint, Fuller was read his Miranda rights, but waived his right to remain silent and agreed to be interviewed. During the interview, Fuller allegedly stated he used the e-mail address for approximately the past two years, “including to receive and distribute images of children engaged in sexually explicit activity.”

Additionally, Fuller allegedly exchanged 40 e-mails with another individual within a three-day span from Sept. 26 through Sept. 29, in which they discussed sexually molesting an infant.  Two other instances purportedly took place concerning child molestation in October. On Oct. 17, Fuller and another individual allegedly discussed sexually molesting a young boy and on Oct. 25, Fuller exchanged more than 25 e-mails with the individual about engaging in sexual activities with a mother and her child.

As stated by the court complaint, Fuller was involved in several similar e-mails dating back to February 2008.

Fuller is represented by Keith Scherer, a criminal defense attorney who specializes in federal and military prosecutions. Scherer said the investigation is still imminent and it is too early in the case to decide whether the case will move forward to trial.

“My client is not going to make any comments on the record,” Scherer said. “The investigation is still pending.  We are doing computer forensics analysis, which the reports are currently incomplete reports. We will return to court on May 28, and in the meantime we are just waiting for reports.”

April Perry, lead attorney for the United States Attorney’s Office, could not be reached for comment.

Elizabeth Burke-Dain, media relations associate at Columbia, said under the college’s policy, media relations does not comment on personnel matters.

Fuller has been employed at Columbia since 2003. He is a 1986 graduate of Rockmart High School in Rockmart, Ga. He received a bachelor’s degree in biology from Duke University, a Ph.D. in molecular genetics and cell biology from the University of Chicago and held a post-doctoral fellowship at Northwestern Memorial Hospital in Chicago, where he researched multiple sclerosis.