Naval War College Professor Resigns after Texting Racy Pic

John Schindler, a U.S. Naval War College professor and outspoken critic of Edward Snowden, has resigned after a photo of his penis he allegedly texted to a woman ended up online.

Schindler was placed on leave in June as the college investigated a complaint sent by a blogger to the administration alleging he sent the photo to a woman in a racy text message exchange.

Schindler, an outspoken commentator on national security issues on his XX Committee blog as well as a professor of national security affairs at the college, purportedly sent the message in May and it is unclear who released it before it spread like wildfire across Twitter.

Schindler was very active on Twitter, calling himself a “very public voice on this contested issue,” but he deleted his account last month when the allegations emerged and in a now-deleted statement on his Web site, he suggested he was the target of a smear campaign.

“I’d like to think I’ve fought the good fight. This, however, has gotten me an extraordinary amount of grief in the form of nearly non-stop online harassment and stalking from a whole cast of characters. It’s been pretty nasty at times,” he said. “Things have now taken an ugly, indeed sordid turn. The smear campaign is now directed not just against me, but against my family.”

Schindler said he’d “be back” but he needed to take a “strategic pause now.”

A college spokeswoman confirmed Monday that Schindler voluntarily resigned effective Aug. 29.

“I’m well and doing fine. I’ll be back, taking a strategic pause here, thanks for being such great followers and readers — more soon!” he said.

Also circulated was an email he allegedly wrote to a woman he said he looked forward to meeting.

In addition to being a professor, Schindler is a Senior Fellow of the International History Institute at Boston University and worked for nearly a decade at the National Security Agency as an analyst and counterintelligence officer. He is also an officer in the U.S. Navy Reserve.