A student was arrested Thursday on charges of child pornography, ending what had become an international investigation. James Phillip Carroll, a sophomore in First Year College, is being charged with six counts of second-degree sexual exploitation of a minor after videos of young girls engaging in sex acts with a man were found in his home.

“The situation was that a person in England reported to her authorities there the potential of someone in North Carolina possessing child pornography and possibly being involved in the exploitation of minors,” Major Dave Wulff of the Cary Police Department said.

“Local authorities in England then contacted the U.S. Attorney’s Office saying that the person may be located in Cary. They contacted us, we investigated, obtained a search warrant and got the arrest.”

According to the warrant released Monday, the tip stemmed from an instant message sent to a friend in the United Kingdom which talked in detail about Carroll’s plans to have sex with a 5-year-old girl, a girl he allegedly was set to be babysitting on Saturday for a family friend.

Second-degree exploitation is defined by the State of North Carolina as distributing, transporting, exhibiting, receiving, purchasing, exchanging or soliciting material that contains a visual representation of a minor engaged in sexual activity. It is a Class E felony and punishable by up to 30 years in prison, a fine, or both, according to information posted on the Campus Police Web site.

According to Wulff, the investigation is still ongoing and it is yet to be seen how exactly things will progress from here through the court system.

Paul Cousins, director of the University Office of Student Conduct, declined to comment on the case citing federal privacy laws, but did offer an idea of how the University might handle a situation such as this.

“We have no specific policy that addresses child pornography like there would for alcohol and the like,” Cousins said. “There are elements of the Code of Conduct that certainly speak of a variety of offenses that might surround or touch on that topic. The University has certainly had instances in the past where students have faced criminal charges for child pornography and the University has worked through those through the Office of Student Conduct.”

When asked how an offense like Carroll’s might affect enrollment, Cousins said it is handled on mostly a case by case basis.

“There are several areas in the code of conduct where suspension or expulsion would be required, for example drugs or certain violations of academic integrity,” he said. “Other than that they’re dealt with on a case by case basis. There are a number of cases that can result in suspension, for example the most common right now would be a DUI, where suspension is not required but is our practice.”

Attempts to discuss the case with the family of Carroll were declined on the basis of their lawyers advice to remain silent.

N.C. State students, many of whom were previously unaware of the case, were shocked and appalled to find out about such a charge to one of their peers.

“It’s really weird, I know people have random fantasies sometimes but for a student at State to be participating in something not only illegal but as immoral and degrading as this is appalling,” Mark Baeuerle, a junior in microbiology, said. “Normally when you think of sex offenders, you envision old creepy men, not bright young students and classmates. It’s disgusting.”

Lacey Martin, a junior in human biology, said she was equally disappointed to hear of the arrest but took a more realistic tone in evaluating the situation.

“I really hate that it happened to an N.C. State student and for the publicity for the University,” Martin said. “I was certainly surprised as this is not something I expect, but unfortunately this happens all the time around the world and can be just around your corner where you least expect it.”

Martin also expressed relief that authorities arrested Carroll before he could carry out any of his plans, as well as a belief that the University should enact appropriate justice in the case.

“I’m just so glad that they got him before he could act on any of his plans, but I wonder if he’s hurt others before,” she said. “I’m not an expert on student conduct procedures but I definitely don’t think this should be taken lightly because it affects the University negatively just by being out there.”

According to Wulff and the Cary Police Department, they are just glad to have one more sexual offender off the streets.

“We’re very happy they we were able to get involved in this case and put a stop to any further abuse that may have happened to anyone,” Wulff said. “We’re also glad that the U.S. Attorney’s Office had enough confidence to trust us with this matter.”

Martin said she agreed.

“At least there won’t be any more victims…hopefully,” she said.

Carroll has posted bail and is on house arrest with electronic monitoring around the clock.