Downloading pornography on campus has become easier for students in the past few years with the growth of online sharing networks, but some downloaded materials can get students into trouble, and can even lead to felony charges.

UAPD is investigating a student, whose name cannot be released because of the status of the investigation, who could face felony charges if found guilty of having pornographic pictures of people under the age of 18 on his personal computer.

Residence Life officials found the pornographic material on the student's computer in November, said UA police department commander Kevin Haywood.

The student could be faced with at least one class-two felony charge ÷ one class lower than the charge for murder, Haywood said. But the incident has not been turned over to Pima County attorney's office for formal indictment.

Gilmore said the student who was reported in November obtained the illegal pictures through download programs like KaZaa or Limewire, which students also use to download music.

Through these programs anyone, regardless of age, can have access to pornographic material ÷ some of it depicting adolescents and children.

A student over the age of 18 can download legal pornographic material (pornography depicting anyone over the age of 18) onto his or her own personal computer, and will not face any penalties, Gilmore said. But using a university computer or downloading child pornography violates UA policy as well as federal law.

"We may not regulate based on content, and that's constitutional," Gilmore said.

Incidents like the one under investigation by UA police appear to be rare on campus, but that could be because such incidents are hard to detect, Haywood said.

Residence Life does not regularly search for illegal pornographic material on student computers, and catching students who have the illegal material on personally-owned hard drives is usually dependent on an someone's decision to report it.

"We're not police officers, but there are those who are. We just don't have the time, energy, resources or interests to be looking," said Steve Gilmore, assistant director of Residence Life.

According to students, using the download programs to access pornographic material is as regular as downloading music.

"It's a pretty accepted thing here. It's just like downloading music," said Kellen Hade, a psychology freshman who lives in Coronado residence hall.

But downloading child pornography on campus is not very common and can be easily hidden.

"I'm not saying I have any, but if someone did, I don't think they'd have it out in the open," Hade said.

Sean Mahoney, a Babcock Inn resident and management information systems sophomore, said that while the programs are regularly used to download pornography, few students download child porn.

"It's not uncommon around here for people to download porn, but kiddie porn? No. That's not done," Mahoney said.