Ex-Lehigh University official sentenced

Steven J. Devlin, the college administrator caught by police in an Internet sex sting last summer, was sentenced yesterday to three to six years in prison.

Devlin, 51, who had been a vice provost at Lehigh University until his arrest, pleaded guilty in May to soliciting sex through the Internet from a woman and her two young daughters. The woman turned out to be a police detective and the daughters were fictional.

Devlin's lawyer portrayed him as a man with an Internet addiction who visited chat rooms obsessively. His wife told the court that their relationship was stronger than ever. His neighbors in Bryn Mawr said they were afraid to let their children play outside and asked the court to put him away, which is what Delaware County Court Judge Patricia H. Jenkins did.

Devlin was arrested in July 2007 after he sought sex in a chat room from someone he believed was a 32-year-old woman with daughters ages 7 and 9, according to court documents.

In May 2007, using the AOL screen name Phillyguy05, Devlin started an online relationship with the detective. He told his new online acquaintance that he and his wife had grown up in an "open-minded" lifestyle and were "preparing" his young daughters.

During several online conversations, Devlin suggested meeting and detailed explicit sexual activity that would occur. He asked that the girls be included.

He had similar exchanges with another detective, who was posing online as the mother of 11- and 14-year-old girls.

Police arrested Devlin when he went to a planned meeting spot in Morton. He pleaded guilty to a criminal attempt to commit involuntary deviant sexual intercourse.

Devlin's lawyer, Arthur T. Donato, told the court yesterday that psychologists said Devlin's Internet addiction was triggered by the stress of a rare life-threatening illness. Donato declined after the hearing to identify the illness.

Devlin's wife, Bonnie, said that therapy since her husband's arrest had strengthened their 28-year marriage, but that they faced a debt of $125,000 from medical and legal bills as a result of his "hidden addiction."

She said she had seen her husband acknowledge his problems and take responsibility for them. "He has regained his moral compass," she said.

She was one of about 16 relatives and friends to address the court on Devlin's behalf.