Rhode Island

Naval War College Official on Leave Over Pornographic Link

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A top official at the Naval War College in Rhode Island has been put on leave after an email sent on his behalf to all faculty contained a link to a pornographic image.

Provost Lewis Duncan blamed the link, which was supposed to be a link to a faculty survey, on a hack of his home computer.

"The matter is currently under investigation," Cmdr. Gary Ross, a spokesman for the Newport school, told The Providence Journal on Friday. "It would be inappropriate for me to discuss the matter at this time."

The message from Duncan went out via the deputy provost's email account on July 21, the newspaper reported.

After a professor pointed out the errant link, Duncan said in a followup message that his home computer had been compromised by "severe risk" malware.

"Personally, I am appalled, humiliated, angered, embarrassed, and distressed that I allowed this to happen," he said, according to the messages obtained by the Journal.

College President Rear Adm. Shoshana Chatfield called the content unacceptable and told the faculty she is determined to find out what happened.

The post-graduate institution trains military and government leaders from across all branches.

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