DeKalb County College Professor Pleads Guilty To Possession Of Child Pornography

DEKALB COUNTY, GA — A former Decatur-Avondale Estates college professor and dean pleaded guilty to possession of child pornography, according to a news release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office, Northern District of Georgia.

Daniel Deocampo, 48, of Avondale Estates, Georgia, pleaded guilty to possession of child pornography on November 3. Deocampo’s sentencing is scheduled for 11 a.m. February 23, 2022 before U.S. District Judge Steven D. Grimberg.

“Deocampo was caught brazenly using the university network to exploit children,” said Acting U.S. Attorney Kurt R. Erskine in a statement. “It is disturbing when we learn that an educator engages in this type of disgusting behavior. Possessing child pornography victimizes and abuses the children in the images each time they are disseminated.”

In November 2020, Georgia State University's Cyber Security Department (“GSU Cyber Security”) alerted the FBI that an employee was accessing websites which appeared to contain child pornography through the university’s network.

Working together, the FBI and GSU Cyber Security identified Deocampo as the individual who had accessed multiple websites containing child pornography (or had links to other websites containing child pornography) from campus in November and December 2020.

GSU Cyber Security also advised the FBI that Deocampo routinely accessed the university’s network from home. Based on that information, FBI determined that Deocampo was also accessing websites containing child pornography from his home on several days in late December 2020 and early January 2021.

On January 6, 2021, the FBI executed search warrants at Deocampo's residence, as well as his GSU office and lab space. Agents recovered an Apple laptop belonging to Deocampo that contained more than 4,000 files of child pornography, including approximately 190 videos.

“Children portrayed in child pornography images are victimized each time those images are distributed or viewed, and this case is especially distressing because the suspect was a professor who worked with our youth,” said Chris Hacker, Special Agent in Charge of FBI Atlanta in a statement. “The FBI remains committed to protecting our children and is thankful for the law enforcement partnerships that make it possible to stop people like Deocampo from victimizing any more children.”