An associate professor at Augusta University has been arrested for public indecency after he was caught pleasuring himself in a math lounge, authorities said.
Dr. John Christopher Sligar, 65, was arrested last Monday, a week after he was allegedly seen with his pants down and watching porn on his personal computer in the lounge, according to an AU police report released late last week.
A facilities management employee notified campus Officer Zachary Skinner after seeing a professor’s genitals exposed from a window into the lounge around 2:15 p.m. on Monday, July 10. The lounge is located on the 3rd Floor of Allgood Hall.
According to the complaint, “There was some guy jacking/jerking off to pornography in the Math lounge.” The employee said he witnessed the professor masturbating with his left hand and could see his genitalia.
The campus officer responded to the 3rd Floor of Allgood Hall and found Room #N304 for the Department of Mathematics. The door has a wooden frame with a large piece of glass in the center of it running almost the length of the door.
“I observed a White Male (W/M) sitting behind a desk,” the officer’s report says. ”The W/M had a laptop open and a pornographic video was playing across the screen.”
The officer went inside and identified Dr. Sligar, who closed the laptop prior to the officer’s entry into the room.
“I advised Sligar about the reason for the contact and asked him if he thought it was appropriate to do those activities at AU. Sligar responded by saying ‘no.’ Sligar asked about who saw him and reported it to me,” the report says. “I observed that Sligar’s pants were unzipped and pulled partially down.”
Dr. Sligar reportedly told the officer that he was in the room “just killing time” and had been in there for one to two hours. He said he had a key to the room and made sure the door was locked. The professor said he wasn’t aware anyone could see him as he watched a video that “did not involve a minor.” He denied exposing his genitals.
According to the report, the professor was concerned about losing his job, but Officer Skinner told him any internal disciplinary problems or policy violations would involve Human Resources.
Dr. Sligar was arrested on the evening of July 17 for public indecency and booked into the Charles B. Webster Detention Center. He bonded out the next day.
An AU spokesperson was not immediately available for information on the professor’s employment status or any disciplinary action. A work number listed for Dr. Sligar went unanswered on Monday.
He is still shown on the university’s website, where it describes his long history with the university and background. Dr. Sligar graduated with a bachelor’s degree from the University of Houston and went on to get a master’s degree from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and a doctorate from the University of Georgia.
He teaches Calculus, Modern Geometry, Complex Variables, Elementary Statistics and Real Variables. He has served on several curriculum committees as well as the Governance and Communication Committee, where he served as chairman from 2019-2020.
A booking report indicates that Dr. Sligar lives in Leesville, S.C. The police report labels the incident as a misdemeanor sex offense.
