A spokesperson for Texas A&M told Texas Scorecard that Clinton Harnden—who was arrested by the Federal Bureau of Investigation at his College Station home after investigators found he possessed child pornography—is no longer employed by the university as of Friday afternoon.
Harnden was a senior administrative coordinator at Texas A&M University in the Department of Industrial and Systems Engineering.
He was arrested by FBI in November once the FBI became aware of Harnden’s instant messaging conversations regarding child pornography after the arrest of Sarah Chadwick in Michigan. WhatsApp messages between Chadwick and Harnden contained images of child sexual abuse materials (CSAM).
According to court documents, both used the words “pizza” or “cheese pizza” as code words for CSAM.
Harnden was also involved in online groups dedicated to sharing CSAM through Tumblr and Wickr, according to The Gateway Pundit.
Kelly Brown, a spokesperson for A&M told Texas Scorecard, “By law, we can’t fire an employee based solely on an arrest. We have just completed our own investigation and will take appropriate action while the accused remains under house arrest in Houston. Since his arrest, he has not returned to work in College Station.”
Brown confirmed to Texas Scorecard late Friday afternoon that Harnden is no longer employed at Texas A&M following the results of their internal investigation.
Texas A&M is overseen by a Board of Regents, appointed by Gov. Greg Abbott, and confirmed by the Texas Senate.
