A newly hired Boston University professor, who apologized over racially charged comments and allegedly ridiculed a white rape victim in Facebook posts, reportedly was charged in 2008 with felony identity theft.

According to Boston.com, incoming BU sociology professor Saida Grundy was convicted of a misdemeanor in 2008 after she created a fake account for another woman on the adult website Fling.com.

Grundy, who was a graduate student at the University of Michigan at the time, said in a statement to Boston.com: “When this incident occurred I was 24, and exercised the poor judgment of a heartbroken 24 year old. I took accountability then as I do now. I hold true to the lessons learned, and my life has since moved on.”

Boston.com obtained the court records in the case, as well as the police report, which stated the fake account was created using photos Grundy got of a woman who was dating a man with whom Grundy had also been involved. The photos of the woman, who lived in Virginia, were taken from the man’s email account.

The Virginia woman became aware of the Fling.com account in her name in June 2008. She called local police, Boston.com reports, who then contacted police in Ann Arbor, Mich.



“This was a jealous thing regarding another man,” Grundy told the police, Boston.com reports, citing the police report.



Grundy was charged with identity theft and using computers to commit a crime, both felonies. She also was charged with malicious use of a telecommunications service, a misdemeanor.

Grundy pleaded guilty to the misdemeanor count in exchange for the dismissal of the felonies. Her probation ended in June 2009.

Boston University says the 2008 conviction will not derail Grundy’s employment.



“A number of years ago, when she was a student at the University of Michigan, Dr. Grundy made a mistake,” Steve Burgay, the university’s senior vice president of external affairs, told Boston.com.

“She admitted the mistake, accepted the consequences, and brought closure to that case,” he continued. “Eight years later, we do not see any reason to reopen it.”

Grundy, an incoming assistant professor of sociology and African-American studies at the school, previously tweeted that "white masculinity is THE problem for america’s (sic) colleges," white men are a "problem population,” and that she tries to avoid shopping at white-owned businesses.

After several alumni complaints, Boston University president Robert Brown condemned the racist tweets.



“I regret that my personal passion about issues surrounding these events led me to speak about them indelicately," Grundy said following the controversy. "I deprived them of the nuance and complexity that such subjects always deserve."

The racist tweets were followed by reports that Boston University was sent an outrageous Facebook exchange in which a poster who identifies herself as the controversial sociology professor mercilessly ridicules a white rape victim.

That victim, Meghan Chamberlin, told FoxNews.com that the posts, made in a February public chat about a controversial article on race that the Facebook thread had linked to, felt “like a kick in the stomach.”

The commenter, who identified herself as Sai Grundy in the Feb. 25 thread and uses the same photo the professor uses on tweets she acknowledged last week, responded by making fun of the victim’s crying.



Sai Grundy wrote: “^^THIS IS THE S**T I AM TALKING ABOUT. WHY DO YOU GET TO PLAY THE VICTIM EVERY TIME PEOPLE OF COLOR AND OUR ALLIES WANT TO POINT OUT RACISM. my CLAWS?? Do you see how you just took an issue that WASNT about you, MADE it about you, and NOW want to play the victim when I take the time to explain to you some s**t that is literally $82,000 below my pay grade? And then you promote your #whitegirltears like that’s some badge you get to wear… YOU BENEFIT FROM RACISM. WE’RE EXPLAINING THAT TO YOU and you’re vilifying my act of intellectual altruism by saying i stuck my “claws” into you?”

Chamberlin responded by trying to leave the discussion. “I am choosing to “exit” this conversation,” she wrote.

But Grundy posted again, finishing with: “go cry somewhere. since that’s what you do.”

Chamberlin responded: “Will do.”

Maxim Lott contributed to this report.