CSU professor Boris Kondratieff arrested for alleged possession of child pornography
Professor Boris Kondratieff from Colorado State University in Fort Collins has been arrested for allegedly possessing child pornography, officials said.
Kondratieff, 66, faces two counts of possession of 20 or more sexually explicit videos of children and two counts of possession of sexually explicit material of children.
CSU officials said a university employee reported that he saw sexually explicit images of children on Kondratieff’s computer in October. CSU informed the university police department, which opened a criminal investigation.
Kondratieff was arrested by Fort Collins Police Services on Jan. 29. He is currently out of jail on a $40,000 bond.
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CSU officials said the university placed Kondratieff on administrative leave during the investigation, prohibiting the entomology professor from being on campus, interacting with students and engaging in university outreach activities.
CSU officials also said the university will take appropriate employment action after an internal investigation but declined to comment further.
This is not the first time Kondratieff has been accused of sexual abuse against minors.
In January 2006, Kondratieff was arrested for allegations that he sexually assaulted his stepdaughter in August 2003, according to archived reports from 9News and The Collegian.
The stepdaughter was younger than 15 years old at the time of the alleged assault, court records said. Kondratieff was charged with incest and sexual assault of a child by a person in a position of trust.
However, Kondratieff accepted a plea deal in July 2006 which cleared him of all sex-related charges, lowering charges to misdemeanor assault and harassment with a two-year deferred sentence.
Kondratieff, who has worked as a professor at CSU since 1986, was employed by the university during the 2006 trial and alleged 2003 assault.
After his arrest in 2006, the university said it prohibited Kondratieff from doing any outreach work on behalf of the university and required a second staff member to be present during his class and office hours.
Kondratieff’s first court appearance for the child pornography charges is scheduled for 1:30 p.m. Monday.