FRESNO, Calif. — A former university professor from West Sacramento has been sentenced to more than 18 years in federal prison after being convicted of attempting to entice a minor and receiving and distributing child sexual abuse material, federal prosecutors announced Friday.
Rodger Githens, 48, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Jill A. Otake to 18 years and six months in prison. He was also ordered to serve 10 years of supervised release after his prison term, during which his access to the internet, computers and minors will be restricted.
In addition, Githens must register as a sex offender and pay $75,000 in fines.
Githens was found guilty on May 1 following a bench trial before Judge Otake.
According to court documents, Githens worked as a professor at a local university and also served as a consultant for other colleges and universities.
Prosecutors said that in March 2023, Githens contacted a Grindr account that was actually being operated by an undercover law enforcement agent. He encouraged the agent to move the conversation to Telegram, describing the platform as more secure.
Federal prosecutors said Githens then discussed sexually abusing the agent’s fictional 7-year-old niece and made plans to travel to Fresno to meet the agent and the child.
Before any meeting occurred, law enforcement executed a search warrant at Githens’s West Sacramento home on April 19, 2023, seizing multiple electronic devices.
Investigators said they found numerous Telegram conversations on Githens’s phone, including chats in which he exchanged and commented on videos depicting the sexual abuse of young children.
The FBI led the investigation with assistance from the West Sacramento Police Department. The case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney David Gappa and McKenzie Hightower of the Department of Justice’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section.
The case was prosecuted as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide Department of Justice initiative focused on investigating and prosecuting child sexual exploitation offenses.