SALT LAKE CITY — The weekend arrest of a University of Utah professor accused of viewing child pornography while on an airplane flight raises a number of questions and concerns.

Dr. Rory Reid, a research psychologist in the Department of Psychiatry at UCLA, said there isn't a "one size fits all" explanation for a person's behavior.

"We tend to want to talk about people with any kind of pornography problem or issue with hypersexual behavior as being all alike," he said. "The number one thing to stipulate is that there are different profiles for people that struggle with these issues."

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A University of Utah professor pleaded not guilty Monday to viewing child pornography on his laptop during a flight from Salt Lake City to Boston.

Both Reid and Dr. Mark Chamberlain, a psychologist and clinical director of Addiction Resource Center for Healing in Clearfield, said addiction to sex or pornography is not a recognized medical disorder at this point, so it is most often likened to drug or alcohol abuse.

Chamberlain said viewing pornography, especially in public, could be a sign that a person has hit "rock bottom," much as a drug addict can, and needs some sort of shock to prompt change.

"People get into that mode where their usual rationality leaves them and they make decisions that are so self-destructive," he said. "We do see that … with everything from public risk-taking to people engaging in sexual practices where they're putting themselves at high-risk, like an addict who throws caution to the wind."

Or, like many of his clients, it could be indicative of "disassociation," in which someone seeks and watches pornography without it really registering.

"There is a sort of autopilot mode that kicks in when you're in that seeking mode," Chamberlain said. "It's sort of like he might have a thought in the back of his mind, 'I shouldn't be doing this,' but the behavior follows."

Still, there are certain symptoms that may suggest deeper issues.

"The idea that someone would risk being exposed to this kind of behavior is evidence that they are lacking the ability to control their desire," Reid said. "Inability to control cravings, willingness to take risks despite serious consequences; those things show he exhibits some symptoms that might suggest he has a serious issue with pornography."

But Reid and Chamberlain said the facts in the U. professor's case are limited.

"We don't know what kind of pornography this guy was consuming," Reid said. "I find it hard to believe that this guy was consuming prepubescent child pornography on the airplane in first class."

He questioned whether the man may have been watching pornography featuring teenagers, which is still considered illegal child pornography and suggestive of deviant behavior, but demonstrative of an attraction common among adult men.

Chamberlain pointed out that there are other unknowns, but conceded that they make professor Grant Smith's alleged behavior no less serious.

"It's not a sign of a certain severity, especially not knowing (Smith's) situation," he said. "Was he intoxicated? That would lower someone's rationality and inhibitions, but it sure looks like an indicator about how compulsive it's become for him."

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Written by Emiley Morgan with contributions form Jennifer Stagg.

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