A former professor at Shippensburg University of Pennsylvania has been detained in Panama, months after skipping bail and fleeing the country to avoid facing child-pornography charges, the Associated Press reported today.

Richard W. Gibbs was arrested in North Carolina in June, was freed on $25,000 bail, but then failed to show up for a court hearing in July. He was wanted in Pennsylvania and two other states (The Chronicle, August 2).

Mr. Gibbs was hired by the communications department at Shippensburg in 1990 and resigned last spring after police officers found images of child pornography on his office computer.

The fugitive was wanted for alleged crimes including sodomy, oral copulation, and child pornography. In the 1980s, Mr. Gibbs served six months in jail after pleading guilty to indecent assault involving a 13-year-old boy on a church field trip. His more recent charges concern three victims he allegedly sexually abused while they were minors.

According to the Associated Press, Mr. Gibbs fled the United States on July 18 for Nicaragua, and was picked up by authorities at a bar in Bocas del Toro, Panama, where he was working under the name Wesley Alonzo.