Kevin Grasha

kgrasha@enquirer.com

A University of Cincinnati classics professor told investigators that he has traded child pornography nearly "every day using the Internet" over the last five or six years, according to court documents.

Holt Parker, who according to his curriculum vitae has taught at UC since 1991, admitted using the email "daddy.cruel@yahoo.com" to collect hundreds of videos and images of child pornography, the documents say, many involving prepubescent boys and girls. The subscriber associated with the email was named "Mr. Cruel Daddy," the documents say.

In Internet chats uncovered by investigators, documents say Parker, a 59-year-old Clifton resident, "discussed his desire to have sexual intercourse with minors."

An FBI spokesman said Parker was arrested Tuesday at his home on charges including distribution and receipt of child pornography. Parker also is charged with intentionally damaging a computer thumb drive to prevent seizure. Parker told investigators that the thumb drive contained thousands of recently downloaded child pornography files.

His attorney, Paul Laufman, declined to comment.

Parker has been suspended from his position, barred from university property, and is not allowed to have contact with students, UC spokesman Greg Vehr said in a statement.

"The university takes these charges very seriously and is cooperating fully with authorities," Vehr said.

According to an affidavit filed Tuesday in U.S. District Court in Cincinnati, the investigation began last year after officials with Yahoo reported to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children that a subscriber using the email address, "daddy.cruel@yahoo.com," sent files containing child pornography.

Those files were videos depicting prepubescent children engaged in sex acts, the affidavit says. In one of the videos, the voice of an adult male could be heard speaking in an unidentified foreign language.

The email account ultimately led to Parker, the affidavit says.

The Internet chats allegedly involving Parker included discussions of child sex abuse and the trading of child pornography, the affidavit says.

In one chat, from August 2014, the affidavit says there is a discussion about trading a video involving a 4-year-old girl engaged in a sex act with an adult.

The email officials say is connected to Parker replied:

"Love that."

"Show me."

"Please!"

The affidavit says Parker, who has a master's degree and Ph.D. from Yale University, apologized to his wife during the search of their home Tuesday "for his behavior and (for) ruining their lives."