David Lounsbury's problems at Florida Gulf Coast University began last fall when two female students accused him of sexually groping a lifelike mannequin in front of a class. Last month the associate professor of criminal forensics was fired, but for allegedly mishandling money, not mannequins.
The students complained that Mr. Lounsbury had lifted a female mannequin's skirt and groped its breasts and genitalia. They also alleged that he had told the class that a person could have "realistic intercourse" with a mannequin if its body had been warmed with a heating pad.
Mr. Lounsbury was suspended from his job in January after university investigators concluded that he had made "inappropriate, sexually related comments and engaged in inappropriate behaviors that appear devoid of educational purposes or content," Provost Ronald Toll wrote in a letter to him.
Mr. Lounsbury disputed the groping accusation in an interview with the Naples Daily News. He said he was teaching how evidence is gathered from victims' genitalia, which he said was relevant to the death-investigation course.
The university was going to allow Mr. Lounsbury back this fall until it determined that he had mishandled money that students had paid for a certification he administered through the university's Institute of Forensic Excellence.
Mr. Lounsbury was fired after acknowledging that he had told some students to make their checks payable to him instead of the university. He received $15,210 from students over a five-year period, but he reportedly said in a memorandum to Mr. Toll that he was recouping money he had spent out of his own pocket for the forensics program.
Bob McKee, Mr. Lounsbury's lawyer, says his client has filed grievances with the university for the accusations about the mannequin and the money. Mr. Lounsbury said in an e-mail message that he hoped for a resolution by October.
Meanwhile, Mr. Lounsbury may have other ways of making his problems disappear. As a sideline to his academic career, he performs magic tricks in the Naples area as "Dr. Chimera."
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