Former UW Professor Convicted on Child Porn Sentenced

A former University of Wyoming assistant professor sentenced on child pornography charges was sentenced to five months of supervised probation as well as time served.

Cai also has 90 days to voluntarily leave the country and return to China, court documents state.

Cai's attorney Tom Fleener says Cai is a Chinese citizen.

Jian Cai pleaded guilty to one count of possession of child pornography in November. U.S. Disctict Court Judge Nancy Freudenthal sentenced Cai to five months of supervised release and time already served. He is also required to pay $6,000 in restitution, to be paid through the Inmate Financial Responsibility Program, court documents state.

Cai is required to comply with the terms of his release before returning to China, including not possessing firearms or explosives, not being able to purchase or drink alcohol as well as registering as a sex offender in the U.S.

The investigation into Cai began on Feb. 14, 2017 in connection to a peer-to-peer, or P2P file sharing network. Agents with the Wyoming Division of Criminal Investigation were able to determine that an Internet Protocol, or IP address of a computer belonging to Cai had downloaded pornographic images depicting children, according to the criminal complaint.

According to court documents, Agents executed a search warrant of Cai’s home, which turned up the laptop in question. Cai told officers there where several hundred files of child pornography on an external hard drive in his possession.

Cai was employed at UW as an assistant professor of mechanical engineering. As of November, Cai was no longer employed at the university.

* Correction: An earlier version of this story stated that Cai was being deported. The story has been updated to show that Cai is leaving the country voluntarily.