North Haverhill, NH — A former longtime Keene State professor who lives in Hanover is facing a total of 26 charges alleging he possessed and distributed child pornography.
Roland Higgins, 72, was indicted on the felony counts earlier this month. The indictments were made public on Tuesday. Higgins, who was first charged in May, has pleaded not guilty to some of the charges and he remains free on $30,000 bail.
The indictments allege that Higgins both possessed child pornography and exchanged it with other people.
Grafton County Deputy Sheriff Eric James helped investigate the case, which he said started more than a year ago, around July 2017.
He said the case was part of an “undercover internet investigation” involving the New Hampshire Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force.
To protect the integrity of the investigation, James said he couldn’t get into specifics about the case. He called it “a proactive investigation to identify those people who are sharing or downloading sexual abuse images.”
The case is being prosecuted by the Grafton County Attorney’s Office. Prosecutor Paul Fitzgerald also said he had no comment.
Higgins worked at Keene State College as a professor of East Asian history and global studies for 36 years, beginning in 1982, according to his LinkedIn account.
Once the charges surfaced, the college placed Higgins on leave and terminated his employment on June 30, a college spokeswoman told the Keene Sentinel.
Higgins, who holds a doctorate degree and also worked briefly at the University of Vermont, taught Asian studies at Dartmouth College for about a year in 1980-81.
He will be arraigned on the indictments on Dec. 10.
