INDIANAPOLIS — A former Butler University professor has taken a plea deal after he admitted to possessing child pornography.
Court documents indicate Tiberiu Popa was originally charged with 10 counts of possession of child pornography. Eight of the counts were dismissed as part of the deal.
Popa was given two four-year sentences on the counts that were not dismissed. The four-year sentences were due to run concurrently.
The plea deal, however, suspended all of the jail time Popa was slated to serve. He will still be subjected to two years of probation, per the sentencing order. Popa’s probation will go into effect immediately.
Popa was initially arrested in January 2022. Police took notice of Popa when a Butler University email linked to him was used to upload 24 files of suspected child pornography to an online program.
After the upload, investigators obtained a warrant and searched a laptop at Popa’s Indianapolis home, finding additional images of child pornography.
Butler dismissed Popa as word of his then-alleged crimes surfaced. He was a professor of philosophy and a chairperson in the Department of Philosophy, Religion and Classics.
