Former University of Iowa Employee Sameer Patel Sentenced to Over 17 Years in Prison in Child Pornography Case

Sameer Chandulal Patel of Iowa City, Iowa, was sentenced late last month to 210 months in prison for the receipt and distribution of child pornography. Following his imprisonment, the 30-year-old Indian citizen was ordered to serve five years of supervised release, unless he is deported from the United States, a Department of Justice press release said.

The DoJ, citing court documents, noted that Patel was arrested after a “Cybertip was received from a social media application indicating that child pornography had been uploaded to their site.” Further investigation revealed that Patel, “while living in Iowa City, had distributed, received, and possessed over 18,000 images and 14,000 videos containing child pornography from 2016 to 2021,” the DoJ said. This June, Patel pleaded guilty to the charge.

On his LinkedIn profile, Patel says he’s a graduate research assistant in the physics and astronomy department at the university. However, Hayley Bruce, UI Department of Public Safety assistant director for communication and external relations told The Daily Iowan that Patel is no longer affiliated with the university.

The university paper further reported that it obtained Patel’s resume, which states that he was “a teacher’s assistant for the UI courses Stars, Galaxies, and the Universe and Astrophysics in August-December 2018.”

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Students at the university told The Daily Iowan that they were “shocked” at the news of Patel’s Oct. 28 sentencing. Aditya Desai, a third-year student studying physics and economics, said the news “shocked him.” He said although he never had Patel as an instructor, “he still works closely with faculty in the physics department.”

Second-year student Henry Krain told the paper that he “found it troubling that Patel taught young adults who are just entering college.” He said, “while he is upset about the situation, he is not concerned about his safety around any of his teachers because he feels he has good relationships with them.”