A Professor at the Faculty of English has appeared in court charged with possession and distribution of indecent images of children, The Guardian reports.

According to the newspaper, Professor Simon Jarvis entered pleas to none of the twelve charges against him, speaking only to confirm basic details and to indicate that he understood the proceedings and did not wish to enter any pleas.

He was bailed to appear at Cambridge Crown Court on 24th March, on condition that he have no unsupervised contact with any individuals under the age of eighteen.

A spokesperson for the University said that Jarvis, who is Gorley Putt Professor of Poetry and Poetics at the Faculty and a specialist in the poetics of verse, “has been suspended pending an internal investigation” but added that “it would not be appropriate to comment further while legal proceedings are active.”

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