Federal grand jury issues indictment for Univ. of Pacific professor for allegedly trafficking images of child sex abuse
A federal grand jury in Fresno returned an indictment today against Rodger Githens, 45, of West Sacramento, charging him with receipt and distribution of images of a minor engaged in sexually explicit conduct. Githens was arrested by West Sacramento Police on April 19.
According to court documents around the time of his arrest, Githens, formerly a professor at the University of the Pacific, using the profile “Tall laid back,” initiated contact with an account on the Grindr app controlled by an undercover FBI agent. Githens prodded the undercover FBI agent to establish an account on the more secure Telegram app.
Githens several times discussed traveling to Fresno to meet the agent and a supposed 7-year-old niece for sexual purposes, but law enforcement served a search warrant at Githens’s residence on April 19, 2023, and seized multiple electronic devices. Agents discovered numerous Telegram chats on Githens’s phone, including several in which he was exchanging and commenting on videos of young children being sexually abused.
If convicted, Githens faces five to 20 years in prison, a fine of up to $250,000, a lifetime of supervised release, and forfeiture of any property used to facilitate commission of the offense. No trial date has been set.
