A University of Alaska Anchorage professor appeared in court for the first time Thursday. Steve Pyle, 48, is charged with three counts of sexual abuse of a minor.
According to charging documents, Pyle’s wife told police her husband had been inappropriately touching a child. She later provided a recording of his confession.
Pyle is a foster parent and has been for the past decade. The Office of Children’s Services says potential foster parent background checks are extremely thorough.
“We do reference checks — for somebody to be licensed, we need to have references that are positive for that person,” said Kari Lee Pietz, an OCS social service program officer. “There’s also mandatory training requirements that they must do.”
Pyle also worked in UAA’s medical laboratory.
Judge Henderson set bail a $100,000 and third party custodian. Pyle is not allowed to make contact with the victim or any minors. He’s due back in court May 5.
This is the second UAA professor arrested for a crime involving minors in the past month. Dr. Curtis Osterhoudt was charged for distributing child pornography. He resigned in January.