[Online exclusive] UCLA professor pleads guilty to felony charges
By Robert Salonga
March 28, 2004 9:00 p.m.
UCLA Classics Professor Andrew Dyck pleaded guilty on Friday to
two felony counts arising from a series of sexually explicit
Internet exchanges with a 13-year-old girl from Simi Valley.
Dyck pleaded guilty to one felony count of sending harmful
matter over the Internet with the intent to seduce a minor, and one
felony count of attempted sending of harmful matter with the intent
to seduce a minor, according to the Ventura County District
Attorney’s Office. He is free on $10,000 bail, and is
scheduled for sentencing by the court on May 20.
His attorney, Donald Etra, said Dyck had intended to plead not
guilty to the charges until Ventura County Superior Court Judge
Bruce Clark considered giving him a probationary term and no more
than 180 days of jail time. Prior to pleading guilty, Dyck faced up
to four years in prison.
“He was given an offer he could not refuse,” Etra
said.
Etra added that he plans on making a strong case before the
judge to ensure that Dyck is granted probation.
“This is the one and only mistake he’s ever made in
his life,” he said. “He’s had a distinguished
career as a contributor to society.”
Etra also noted that the Internet “is kind of a
fantasyland” for some, but said certain communications on the
Internet are not permitted by law.
UCLA spokesman Harlan Lebo said Dyck was placed on paid
administrative leave pending further review by the university
administration. Likely to follow is a review by the Academic
Senate, which oversees academic policy and faculty matters.
Dyck, who has taught at UCLA since 1978, taught two
undergraduate courses and one graduate course last quarter. He is
scheduled to teach one undergraduate course and one graduate course
spring quarter, said Classics Chairman Robert Gurval. But pending
the university review, the status of those courses could change
before the beginning of the quarter.
Etra said while on leave his client will continue his
scholarship and research. Gurval declined to comment on specific
actions that may be taken, but said his department is “deeply
saddened by this event.”
Dyck turned himself in to authorities on Oct. 2 after a warrant
was issued for his arrest following a nine-month investigation by
the Simi Valley Police Department. From November 2002 until July
2003, Dyck sent numerous e-mails intended for the victim. According
to police and the Ventura County District Attorney’s Office,
Dyck’s e-mails included links to web pages displaying
pornography. The victim received the earliest e-mails from Dyck.
After the recipient’s family reported the conduct to
authorities, police then posed as the recipient and continued to
receive communications from Dyck. A police search of his home was
conducted, and the materials in question were eventually connected
to information on his home computer.
