Grove City College has placed a student on a one-year suspension for appearing in gay porn after an e-mail with images of him spread across campus.
John Gechter, a senior majoring in molecular biology, earned as much as $11,000 per weekend to film more than a dozen videos in Chicago, Miami, and Los Angeles, according to Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.
Anya Sostek reports that Gechter was charged with sexual misconduct, participation in the public display of pornography and engaging in "conduct that is contrary to the mission and values of Grove City College and likely to bring dishonor to the College."
Grove City released a statement to the Post-Gazette yesterday about Gechter, who says he is bisexual.
"The student's suspension resulted from his involvement in the adult pornography industry. The student acknowledged that he was employed in the adult entertainment industry and that he knew that violated the student code of conduct. Throughout this process, his sexual orientation was not a factor in the decision."
Someone found Gechter's images on the Internet and forwarded them to students at Grove City. Gechter estimated that the e-mail had reached two-thirds of the student population by the next day, according to Sostek.
Though Mr. Gechter said that his porn career opened doors for him in terms of modeling and possibly acting, he now wishes that he hadn't done it, given the academic consequences and the pain that it has caused his religious family.
When he broke the news, his mother started "praying and fasting." His father was upset, but he said they still love him.
He has retained a lawyer and is contemplating a lawsuit against Grove City. Though he admits that some of his rule violations were fairly clear, he doesn't feel like the school is demonstrating Christian values of love and forgiveness. The whole experience, he said, has caused him to re-examine his Christian beliefs.
Gechter told The Herald that he started appearing in gay porn after he was referred to the industry through a modeling agency during his sophomore year.
Grove City spokeswoman Amy Clingensmith said the college's main concern was for Gechter.
"Clearly something happened since he's been here for four years that led him down this unfortunate path," she told The Herald. "We want to get him out of that type of life."
A similar incident occured at another Christian college in the fall of 2007. A senior at Wheaton College was placed on disciplinary probation after he appeared in a video advertisement for Abercrombie & Fitch. The video portrays the student with his shirt off in several scenes, lying in a bed and in a car with a young woman.
Update: The Post-Tribune reported that a fellow student sent initial e-mails with evidence of Gechter's work. "The administration did not receive any images via email or any other source of him from any student," the college told CT.
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