A former professor at Hialeah-based Florida National College is facing seven federal charges of possession and receipt of child pornography, according to documents obtained from the US District Court, Southern District.
Manuel Mares was indicted and charged with six counts of knowingly receiving images of minors engaged in sexually explicit behavior and one count of possession child porn on December 1. He was released on $100,000 bond.
The school fired Mares shortly after his arrest by the FBI in November, although school officials clarify that his termination was a result of his missing work and not the nature of the indictment.
Mares had served as a professor at the college and most recently as an academic adviser. Maria Regueiro, CEO of the college, said Mares never showed any suspicious behavior while being employed and was not in contact with young children in his capacity with the school.
“We never saw any wrongdoing on his part while he was employed with us," said Regueiro. She said that he never returned to clean out his desk after his arrest.
“I think he probably feels ashamed,” she said.
According to the indictment, federal agents traced child porn traded via email from various states between July 2010 and August 2011 to an email account registered to Mares. The emails included numerous images and videos of children under the age of 12 being sexually violated.
Calls to Mares' lawyer, William Tunkey, were not immediately returned.
