Settlement reached between former professor, victims depicted in child porn

ERIE — An undisclosed settlement has been reached in the federal civil suit between a former award-winning college professor from Meadville convicted on child pornography charges and the eight victims depicted in the pornography authorities found on his computers.

In December 2016, the victims, identified only by pseudonyms, filed a lawsuit against Kirk Nesset in U.S. District Court in Erie for statutory damages of $150,000 each plus compensatory and punitive damages.

Katie M. Shipp, an attorney who represents the eight victims along with Hepbrurn, also declined comment when contacted by the Tribune by email.

Nesset formerly was a tenured professor of English at Allegheny College and had taught at the college since 1995. Nesset won the Drue Heinz Literature Prize in 2007 for a collection of short stories called “Paradise Road.” The award is given annually by the University of Pittsburgh Press.