Trouble for Former Ann Arbor News writer

Update:  Now Mlive picked up the story, so go there for more details: From MLive

Original Post:
So, you debate whether to post a link to stuff like this. I didn’t sign up for this to get personal or embarrass individuals, and perhaps I’ve crossed that line a couple times. A friend of the site forwarded this story along. When Jim Cnockaert was let go from the Ann Arbor News in 2003 there were rumors that he was found with porn on a work computer. To me, it was scuttlebutt, nothing more, I don’t know if any specific charges were brought against him or if anything proven. He suddenly moved on and I don’t know if any formal reason was given. Apparently he lost another job in spring 2008 at the Bozeman Daily Chronicle for allegedly the same type of issue. He went on to a new gig in Virginia, but this time he’s being brought up on federal charges for the Bozeman incident:

Cnockaert, 54, was fired from the Chronicle last spring after a co-worker told supervisors that she saw Cnockaert viewing child porn on a computer in the newspaper’s advertising department. According to court records, Chronicle publisher Stephanie Pressly and managing editor Nick Ehli confronted Cnockaert, and he acknowledged that he had used the computer to view pornography.

It obviously doesn’t look too good but he’s pleaded not guilty to the charges. I don’t know Cnockaert, but as we all know the local sports writer is an important part of the culture of M athletics. Love or hate, there’s a relationship that develops there. Here’s to hoping that if there’s some truth here, Cnockaert finds some help.