Former UNLV lecturer accused of possessing child sexual abuse images

A Texas man with Las Vegas ties and who was a former visiting lecturer at UNLV was arrested Tuesday in San Antonio on charges related to alleged possession of child pornography, according to the Department of Justice.

Zaid Mashhour Haddad, according to a news release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Western District of Texas, was charged with one count of possession of child pornography and one count of knowingly accessing, with intent to view, material that contained an image of child pornography.

According to a federal criminal complaint, FBI agents executed a search warrant at Haddad’s apartment in San Antonio in July 2021.

At that time, Haddad was “in the bedroom of the apartment viewing child sexual abuse material being streamed from his computer to a TV mounted on the wall,” according to the complaint.

The video, according to the complaint, showed a prepubescent boy, who appeared to be 7 or 8, being abused by a “nude male.” A link that was being used as a source of child porn videos, the complaint said, contained “181 different videos.”

Haddad, according to an arrest affidavit, is an associate professor at the University of Texas at San Antonio. A check of an online school faculty page Thursday showed a Zaid Haddad listed as an associate professor of instruction, interdisciplinary learning and teaching.

In an email, a UTSA spokesperson said Haddad has been placed on paid administrative leave pending the outcome of the case.

A LinkedIn webpage for a Zaid Haddad, which featured the same headshot photo as the UTSA faculty page, shows that Haddad was a “visiting lecturer in teacher education” at UNLV from 2012 until 2022. It also shows that he obtained a doctorate degree from UNLV.

Online UNLV digital scholarship records show a dissertation from a Zaid Mashhour Haddad titled “A multiple case study of gay teacher identity development: negotiating and enacting identity to interrupt heteronormativity.”

A UNLV spokesperson said in an email Friday that Haddad was employed by the school as a visiting lecturer between 2010 and 2014.

Haddad faces up to 20 years in prison, lifetime supervised release, a fine of up to $250,000, and the requirement to register as a sex offender, according to the Department of Justice.

Haddad is scheduled to have a preliminary hearing May 7 before U.S. Magistrate Judge Richard Farrer in San Antonio.

Contact Bryan Horwath at bhorwath@reviewjournal.com. Follow @BryanHorwath on X.