Former U-M assistant professor facing federal child porn charges is considered a fugitive, officials say

AnnArbor.com reached Tzfira by phone Wednesday at his office at Ben-Gurion University of the Negev in Israel, where works as an associate professor in the Department of Life Sciences. He declined to comment on the charges. University officials there could not be reached for comment.

Tzfira's attorney, Ray Cassar, said Tzfira went to Israel in December 2010 to care for his mother, who was seriously ill. Tzfira told the FBI and U.S. Attorney's office he would return to deal with the case, Cassar said.

At the time Tzfira left, no charges had been filed, but records show FBI agents had executed a search warrant at Tzfira's home in Pittsfield Township.

Cassar said Tzfira has not set a date to return to the U.S., but that remains the plan.

"I still fully intend on him coming back," Cassar said. "We're going to fight these charges."

Federal court records show Tzfira caught the attention of law enforcement in early 2010.

According to an affidavit by FBI Special Agent Jim Brennan, FBI agents in Washington, D.C. received information in February 2010 from Italian law enforcement officials about several U.S.-based computers involved in distributing child porn.

Investigators determined that one screen name used to share child porn over a peer-to-peer network in January 2010 was "2009ya," the affidavit says. An individual behind that screen name made 8 pages of thumbnail images of child porn available to the public, the affidavit says. Italian investigators "took screen captures of the files."

On July 15, 2010, FBI agents executed a search warrant at Tzfira’s home on East Horizons Court in Pittsfield Township. Agents seized laptop computers, an iPhone, DVDs, a video camera, a curriculum vitae and other items, search warrant records show.

When asked by investigators whether he used the "2009ya" screen name, Tzfira replied, "Yes, I think so," the affidavit says.

A forensic examination of one of the computers seized revealed more than 40 images of children engaging in sexual acts, the affidavit says. Investigators say the children ranged in age from less than a year to 12 years old.

Tzfira worked from Jan. 1, 2006, until Dec. 31, 2010, as an assistant professor in the Department of Molecular, Cellular and Developmental Biology at U-M, university spokesman Rick Fitzgerald said. According to university records, Tzfira resigned to take another position, Fitzgerald said. Tzfira's salary at U-M prior to his resignation was roughly $78,000.

If convicted of distributing child porn, Tzfira faces a minimum of 15 years in prison.