Former professor guilty in porn case

A Woodstock man must register as a sex offender and serve three years of probation after admitting to having child pornography.

As part of a plea agreement, Chadwick Carter Blackwell, 41, of 312 S. Muhlenberg St., pleaded guilty Aug. 11 in Staunton Circuit Court to four counts of possessing child pornography, Assistant Staunton Commonwealth's Attorney Anne Reed said Monday. He had faced 34 counts.

Blackwell entered Alford pleas, in which he doesn't admit guilt but acknowledges there is enough evidence for a conviction, and was given a three-year suspended sentence, Reed said. He was placed on three years of supervised probation.

Blackwell must register as a sex offender and undergo a sexual-offender evaluation and follow any treatment recommendations, according to Reed.

He was working as a psychology professor at Mary Baldwin College when the offenses came to light.

"One of his student assistants went in to get something off the computer at his direction," Reed said. "He had a number of screens minimized on the [computer] screen, and when she went to get what he had requested, [she] observed images that she found to be extremely disturbing and she reported it."

Daily Staff Report