- BYU professor Stephen McKean faces charges of enticing a minor.
- McKean was placed on leave by BYU.
- Police said they traced explicit messages to McKean's Springville home via IP address.
BRIGHAM CITY — A BYU professor has been charged with sending sexually explicit messages and pictures to someone he thought was a teen girl.
Stephen Henry McKean, 32, of Springville, was charged Tuesday in 1st District Court in Box Elder County with distributing harmful materials to a minor, a third-degree felony; and three counts of enticing a minor, a class A misdemeanor.
McKean is an assistant professor of math, according to his online bio. BYU issued a statement on Wednesday saying McKean had been placed on administrative leave effective immediately.
"We condemn abuse in any form, and the university will fully cooperate with law enforcement as this investigation moves forward. We are committed to offering support to any students who might be affected by this news," said school spokesman Todd Hollingshead.
In March, an investigator working in a joint operation with the Box Elder County Attorney's Office and the Utah Internet Crimes Against Children task force was posing online as a 17-year-old girl when he was contacted by McKean, according to police booking affidavit.
"(McKean) continued to communicate with the purported 17-year-old and expressed concerns that it was illegal. Nevertheless, (he) continued to converse about the possibility of meeting up for sexual acts. (McKean) described in graphic detail the sexual acts he wanted to engage in with the purported 17-year-old, which included sexual intercourse," charging documents state.
McKean also sent the undercover investigator an explicit picture of himself, according to the charges.
"I also asked the user for his name, he stated his name was Steve, along with that, during our conversation, Steve states that he is a professor of math/science at a university," the affidavit states, while also noting, "Eventually the conversation turns back sexual."
After sending several explicating messages, the affidavit states that the next day, "Steve states that he is deleting his account and cuts off communications with my undercover account."
After serving search warrants, investigators traced the messages back to an IP address from a home in Springville.
