An Oxford University lecturer has been suspended after he pleaded guilty to three counts of producing indecent photographs of a child.

Peter King, a philosophy tutor who published a controversial paper on the ethics of child pornography in 2008, appeared at Oxford crown court last week. He will be sentenced next month.

Pembroke College sent an email to its philosophy students on Friday stating that King had been “immediately suspended from his employment in college, pending disciplinary proceedings”.

His profile was also subsequently removed from the Pembroke College website, and his Oxford University email address was suspended.

According to a report in the student newspaper, Oxford Blue, which broke the story, students said King did not schedule any tutorials this term, and had not responded to their emails in recent weeks.

Twelve years ago King published a paper about the ethics of child pornography titled: No plaything: Ethical Issues Concerning Child Pornography, in which he had claimed that “child pornography is a more complex matter (than adult pornography), and that generally accepted moral judgments concerning pornography in general have to be revised when children are involved”.

In the paper, published by scientific journal publisher Springer, King posed the “possibility of a morally acceptable form of child pornography”.

It is understood that colleagues at Pembroke were unaware of any police investigation into King until he notified them last week of his imminent appearance in court.

A statement from Pembroke College said: “Peter King has been suspended from College, pending disciplinary proceedings. The College has immediately put in place welfare and academic support for its students and staff.”

Oxford crown court confirmed that King pleaded guilty to three counts of making indecent photos of a child between 2010 and 2018, involving thousands of images. He also admitted to one charge of possession of a prohibited image of a child. King’s defence lawyer declined to comment.

In an email to students, alerting them to King’s suspension, Pembroke College’s academic director, Nancy Braithwaite, wrote: “This will come as a shock and my concern now is to ensure that you receive any support that you might need.

“I am sorry to have to relay such distressing news. This will be a difficult time for our community and we must do everything we can to support each other.”

In the abstract outlining the argument made in his paper on ethical issues concerning child pornography, King wrote: “Academic discussion of pornography is generally restricted to issues arising from the depiction of adults.

“I argue that child-pornography is a more complex matter, and that generally accepted moral judgements concerning pornography in general have to be revised when children are involved.

“I look at the question of harm to the children involved, the consumers, and society in general, at the question of blame, and at the possibility of a morally acceptable form of child-pornography.

“My approach involves an objectivist metaethics and a utilitarian view of practical ethics, and I bring out the advantages of these theories to the consideration of moral issues such as this one.”

A spokesperson for Oxford University declined to comment, but clarified that King’s work had been confined to Pembroke College and he has never held a post or any duties with the faculty of philosophy.

King will be sentenced on 19 March.