13 WTHR - Indianapolis News |IU-Kokomo professor arrested in New Orleans for child solicitation

IU-Kokomo professor arrested in New Orleans for child solicitation

New Orleans, LA - An Indiana assistant professor of anatomy is charged with trying to hook up with someone too young to be a student. The Indiana University-Kokomo staffer was spending the summer in his hometown, New Orleans, when he got caught up in an internet police sting.

Shawn Vincent, a Ph.D., is 30 years old. He's facing hard time in the Big Easy. Police caught Vincent in an internet sting, the first one staged with the US Secret Service, targeting suspects seeking sex with minors.

"Mr. Vincent contacted our detective who was pretending to be a 14-year-old girl," said Deputy Toby Aguillard, Tangipahoa Parish Sheriff's Department.

After building a web chat room relationship, police say Vincent "later arranged to meet with what he thought was a child for the purpose of a sexual encounter."

Police arrested three other men in the same sweep. A neighbor of the suspect said he seemed like a nice guy. "I would not have thought anything like that about him," said the neighbor.

At the Kokomo apartments where Vincent lived during the school year, neighbors were concerned. "I wouldn't want him out here. I wouldn't want him around. My kids are on the computer a lot and I wouldn't want them to be around that at all."

"It surprises me a teacher would do something like that. It's amazing our kids are going to school and being surrounded by people like that," said another neighbor.

Professor Vincent was on staff at IU Kokomo starting last fall. He was invited to return this fall under a new contract.

"It's something the campus takes very seriously and we'll do whatever we can to protect it," said IU-Kokomo Vice Chancellor Paul Nowak.

Nowak says the anatomy professor, who spent the last four summers in Japan studying a family of reptiles, will be the focus of an internal investigation by the university that will determine if he's allowed to return to campus. Nowak said, "We take the safety and security of campus and our students and the community very seriously."

Louisiana police say they warn parents summer is an especially vulnerable time for kids. They're home from school and may spend more time online. It's a good time for parents to monitor their activity.