OT: UM prof arrested for seeking sex w/14-year-old

Submitted by NoVaWolverine on

While Jeff Moss is trying to make something out of nothing w/Harbaugh and Exposure U., someone else connected with U-M has apparently been up to something actually illegal and sickening:

http://www.mlive.com/news/ann-arbor/index.ssf/2015/08/boy_lover_told_police_he_trave.html 

 

A 51-year-old University of Michigan professor was the subject of a two-year federal investigation that resulted in his arrest at a south Florida hotel where he thought he was going to have sex with a 14-year-old boy, records show.

James Cavalcoli had corresponded with a police officer posing as the fictitious 14-year-old boy's father since November 2013 before attempting to meet the boy for sex Friday at the Bonaventure Resort and Spa in Weston, Florida.

Cavolcoli admitted to law enforcement officials waiting for him in the lobby he came to Florida from his home in Ann Arbor partly for the boy, but also for work. Cavolcoli is an assistant professor of biology and the director of the Bioinformatics Core.

"Mr. Cavalcoli has worked for the university for about 13 years," U-M spokeswoman Mary Masson said in an emailed statement. "We are currently reviewing the matter and will cooperate fully with law enforcement investigators."

A federal complaint was filed Monday against Cavalcoli for one count of traveling across state lines for the purpose of engaging in illicit sexual conduct with another person. He remains in federal custody, records show.

 

Assuming he's convicted, I hope they throw the book at the guy.

EDIT: Per some suggestions in the comments, I've labeled this off-topic. I realize it's not the most pleasant thing to post on the board, but it does involve the university so I figured it might be of some interest. Just a reminder that this sick exploitation of kids is happening all around us, and no institution is immune from having someone like this in its ranks.

SpazCarpenter

August 12th, 2015 at 2:49 PM ^

Come back to real life. No one said to let mentally-ill criminals play with your kids you sicko. People who commit these crimes are usually paroled within a few years, and the suggestions to change the way we rehabilitate mentally-ill criminals is not one you clearly have any logical aptitude to comment upon.

Everyone Murders

August 12th, 2015 at 9:18 AM ^

It's a terrible story, but has jackshit to do with football or Michigan sports.  I know it's technically on-topic, but I'd hate to see the board become a place to air all the university's dirty laundry.  If it had to do with a coach or a player, yeah.  But a university employee not on university business and not affiliated with the sports programs - not so much.

As to the story, I think our ex-professor has gotten himself into a tough spot.  Looks like they got him cold, and I hope he has a very rough ride in prison.

Everyone Murders

August 12th, 2015 at 9:33 AM ^

I think most people realized that when you have a school with 6,200 faculty members and 38,000 employees, there are going to be some deviants in the mix.  So long as they're not impacting the core topic of the blog (Michigan Sports), it seems like a bad topic for discussion here.

Based on what we know, this is a depraved individual who was attempting to commit a heinous act.  But it wasn't done in conjunction with UofM, and it was done in FL.  The university is cooperating with authorities, and there isn't a hint of institutional involvement here.  So I would not have posted this story.

It's just my opinion, of course. 

MGlobules

August 12th, 2015 at 11:24 AM ^

their outrage on. This kind of pederasty is pretty compulsive and therefore, in my estimate, sad. My brother works with guys who struggle with this and they are a miserable bunch. Not that my first sympathy doesn't lie with the victims, and not that a certain amount of disgust and loathing doesn't go with it. But I thank the good Lord he didn't imprint me with that kind of thing, and don't think that just hatin' on people--whoever--is super-productive.

SpazCarpenter

August 12th, 2015 at 9:24 AM ^

I think for some people this is their only source of news for the university. There are many posts that have nothing to do with sports. Frat moms, The no people car city and my favorite the turkey that no one had the balls to take on. It all leads to interesting conversation. Not everything is cheese and beer.



Sent from MGoBlog HD for iPhone & iPad

ypsituckyboy

August 12th, 2015 at 9:23 AM ^

Incredibly sad reminder of the horrific things that go on right under our noses. So many children out there who suffer at the hands of abusers and whose cries for help are never heard. I shudder to think how frequently events like this happen that aren't police set-ups.

Above and Beyond

August 12th, 2015 at 9:27 AM ^

Good god, man. I just don't understand how a 51 year old dude is attracted to young teenagers (especially boys, unless the guy is gay, which still doesn't excuse his act) and willing to take the risk of being arrested and (likely) sentenced to prison for a long time. My brain literally cannot comprehend that. It's one thing for an adult male to look at an attractive teenage girl (one in high school, at least) and say, "she's pretty," but to act on it and try to get with her is another and just plain sick. Those assholes should be locked in a jail cell for years.

Former_DC_Buck

August 12th, 2015 at 12:27 PM ^

Their hope is that Jerry Sandusky  just had boundry issues and what they like to call the "victims" just saw a payday opportunity.  The victims were motivated by greed.  The prosecutors were complicit with policital machinations on the part of the former govenor to ruin Spanier.  And members of the PSU BOT who had personal axes to grind with Paterno. 

If all of that is true then Paterno and Penn State are in the clear because there never was a crime to cover up.  It was all a conspiracy.  

Former_DC_Buck

August 12th, 2015 at 3:22 PM ^

It can be found here.

 

It's great that Scott cares about the old man ( JoePa ), we all do. The problem with Scott is he doesn't give a rat's ass about Sandusky ( and in his mind why should he? ), but by ripping on Sandusky he fails to recognize that as long as Sandusky sits in jail falsely accused, JoePa will never be free, Penn State will never be free, and I will never be free.

Until every idiot is put in a cage, non of us will be free.

N i t t a n y A m e r i c a

 

bjk

August 12th, 2015 at 12:40 PM ^

leave your impunity in the shed and use a rubber hose instead, it won't leave any marks. For fairness' sake, first check to see if she is bearing a fake ID that shows her to be 23 years of age, just in case. Kids do the strangest things.