Please ensure Javascript is enabled for purposes of website accessibility
Supposedly Religious UOP Professor Indicted in Child Sex Sting Case
Bill McEwen updated website photo 2024
By Bill McEwen, News Director
Published 2 years ago on
May 4, 2023

Share

Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...

A federal grand jury seated in Fresno returned an indictment Thursday against a University of the Pacific associate professor, charging him with receiving and sending images of a minor engaged in sexually explicit conduct.

The indicted man is Rodger Githens, 45, of West Sacramento. He has a Ph.D. and a master’s in Human Resource Development. He also took graduate classes in religious studies at the Chicago Theological Seminary.

The 7-Year-Old He Desired Was Actually an FBI Agent

According to court documents, in late March, Githens, using the profile “Tall laid back,” initiated contact with an account on the Grindr app controlled by an undercover FBI agent.

Githens allegedly encouraged the undercover FBI agent to establish an account with the Telegram app, which is considered more secure. Githens several times discussed traveling to Fresno to meet the agent and a supposed 7-year-old niece for sexual purposes, prosecutors said.

Instead, law enforcement served a search warrant at Githens’s residence on April 19 and seized multiple electronic devices. Agents discovered numerous Telegram chats on Githens’s phone, including several in which he was exchanging and commenting on videos of young children being sexually abused.

According to the Daily Beast, which cited the criminal complaints, Githens promised to bring the agent posting as the child “her favorite chocolate bar and an Ariel doll,”  referring to the “The Little Mermaid” character.

UOP is headquartered in Stockton but also has a campus in Sacramento. A university spokesman told The Daily Beast that Githens has been placed on administrative leave.

‘Totally not a Fantasy for Me’

“It’s totally not fantasy for me,” Githens told the undercover agent in a series of graphic messages. The agent, the complaint says, was posing online as a “‘taboo-friendly’ uncle” in Fresno that had “a 7-year-old niece with whom he was sexually active.”

The West Sacramento Police Department assisted the FBI in the investigation.

Assistant U.S. Attorney David Gappa, an expert in child porn and child sexual abuse cases, is the prosecutor.

If convicted, Githens faces five to 20 years in prison and a fine of up to $250,000.

 

RELATED TOPICS:

DON'T MISS

New York to Charge Fossil Fuel Companies for Damage From Climate Change

DON'T MISS

Israel Strikes Houthi Rebels in Yemen’s Capital While the WHO Chief Says He Was Meters Away

DON'T MISS

Holiday Shoppers Increased Spending by 3.8% Despite Higher Prices

DON'T MISS

Fresno Public Hanukkah Lighting Will Move Indoors Sunday

DON'T MISS

Americans Are Exhausted by Political News. TV Ratings and a New AP-NORC Poll Show They’re Tuning Out

DON'T MISS

How the Stock Market Defied Expectations Again This Year, by the Numbers

DON'T MISS

Fresno Is Getting Sideswiped by Next Two Rainstorms

DON'T MISS

Fresno State Gifted Two JC Football Players for Christmas

DON'T MISS

Oakland Man Dies in Christmas House Fire After Rescuing His Family

DON'T MISS

Christmas Shooting at Phoenix Airport Leaves 3 People Wounded, 1 Stabbed

UP NEXT

Israel Strikes Houthi Rebels in Yemen’s Capital While the WHO Chief Says He Was Meters Away

UP NEXT

Holiday Shoppers Increased Spending by 3.8% Despite Higher Prices

UP NEXT

Americans Are Exhausted by Political News. TV Ratings and a New AP-NORC Poll Show They’re Tuning Out

UP NEXT

How the Stock Market Defied Expectations Again This Year, by the Numbers

UP NEXT

Fresno Is Getting Sideswiped by Next Two Rainstorms

UP NEXT

Fresno State Gifted Two JC Football Players for Christmas

UP NEXT

Oakland Man Dies in Christmas House Fire After Rescuing His Family

UP NEXT

Christmas Shooting at Phoenix Airport Leaves 3 People Wounded, 1 Stabbed

UP NEXT

US Sex-Abuse Watchdog Fires Investigator After Learning of His Arrest for Stealing Drug Money

UP NEXT

Bill Bergey, Pro Bowl Linebacker for Eagles and Bengals, Dies at 79

Bill McEwen,
News Director
Bill McEwen is news director and columnist for GV Wire. He joined GV Wire in August 2017 after 37 years at The Fresno Bee. With The Bee, he served as Opinion Editor, City Hall reporter, Metro columnist, sports columnist and sports editor through the years. His work has been frequently honored by the California Newspapers Publishers Association, including authoring first-place editorials in 2015 and 2016. Bill and his wife, Karen, are proud parents of two adult sons, and they have two grandsons. You can contact Bill at 559-492-4031 or at Send an Email

Fresno Public Hanukkah Lighting Will Move Indoors Sunday

30 minutes ago

Americans Are Exhausted by Political News. TV Ratings and a New AP-NORC Poll Show They’re Tuning Out

32 minutes ago

How the Stock Market Defied Expectations Again This Year, by the Numbers

37 minutes ago

Fresno Is Getting Sideswiped by Next Two Rainstorms

1 hour ago

Fresno State Gifted Two JC Football Players for Christmas

1 hour ago

Oakland Man Dies in Christmas House Fire After Rescuing His Family

1 hour ago

Christmas Shooting at Phoenix Airport Leaves 3 People Wounded, 1 Stabbed

2 hours ago

US Sex-Abuse Watchdog Fires Investigator After Learning of His Arrest for Stealing Drug Money

2 hours ago

Pro-Palestinian Activists Removed From Michigan’s Student Government

3 hours ago

Bill Bergey, Pro Bowl Linebacker for Eagles and Bengals, Dies at 79

3 hours ago

New York to Charge Fossil Fuel Companies for Damage From Climate Change

ALBANY, N.Y. — Large fossil fuel companies would have to pay fees to help New York fight the effects of climate change under a bill signed T...

3 minutes ago

3 minutes ago

New York to Charge Fossil Fuel Companies for Damage From Climate Change

20 minutes ago

Israel Strikes Houthi Rebels in Yemen’s Capital While the WHO Chief Says He Was Meters Away

24 minutes ago

Holiday Shoppers Increased Spending by 3.8% Despite Higher Prices

30 minutes ago

Fresno Public Hanukkah Lighting Will Move Indoors Sunday

32 minutes ago

Americans Are Exhausted by Political News. TV Ratings and a New AP-NORC Poll Show They’re Tuning Out

37 minutes ago

How the Stock Market Defied Expectations Again This Year, by the Numbers

1 hour ago

Fresno Is Getting Sideswiped by Next Two Rainstorms

1 hour ago

Fresno State Gifted Two JC Football Players for Christmas

Help continue the work that gets you the news that matters most.

Search

Send this to a friend