On Monday, the government department canceled a scheduled talk with Georgia State University political science professor Toby Bolsen, according to an Oct. 7 email obtained and reviewed by The Dartmouth. Bolsen is a registered child sex offender in the state of Illinois.
Bolsen was scheduled to deliver a talk titled “Americans’ Support for the Future Development of Artificial Intelligence” on Oct. 11 in Silsby Hall, according to an Oct. 6 email obtained and reviewed by The Dartmouth. In an email statement to The Dartmouth, government professor Jennifer Jerit wrote that Bolsen “decided not to travel to Hanover this week for personal reasons.”
“I hope he will be able to accept our invitation at a future date,” Jerit wrote.
In the Oct. 7 email, government department administrator Roberta Seaver informed recipients — including Jerit, government professor Brendan Nyhan and individuals included in the “Government All” and “QSS_Affiliates” email groups — that the department “unfortunately … had to cancel” Bolsen’s visit. She did not provide further explanation.
According to Judici — a public database of court cases — Bolsen pleaded guilty to two counts of aggravated criminal sexual abuse against a victim between the ages of 13 to 18 on June 22, 2001. He was sentenced to 180 days in county jail, 90 of which were “held in abeyance” pending a remission hearing in February 2005. At the hearing, the 90 remaining days were remitted. Bolsen was also fined $1,000 and placed on 48 months of probation. During this time, he was ordered to perform 160 hours of community service, mandated to cut all contact with the victim and her family and barred from holding a supervisory position over minors.
At the time of the offense, Bolsen was 25 and his victim was 17, according to the Illinois State Police Sex Offender Registry.
In April 2006, Bolsen published an article titled, “Citizens, Knowledge and the Information Environment” in the American Journal of Political Science with Jerit and Rockefeller Center for Public Policy director and government professor Jason Barabas. Bolsen received his Ph.D in political science and government from Northwestern University in 2010, according to his LinkedIn.
In an email statement to The Dartmouth, a government professor, who requested anonymity, wrote that they believe registered sex offenders “do not belong on Dartmouth’s campus.”
“There is no excuse for putting our students at risk,” they wrote.
In an email statement to The Dartmouth, Nyhan wrote that he had “no information about or role in” the event. He directed The Dartmouth to Barabas, Jerit and government department chair Lucas Swaine.
Barabas, Bolsen, Swaine and several quantitative social science and government professors did not respond to requests for comment by time of publication.
Update Appended (Oct. 8, 2:01 p.m.): The article has been updated to include a statement from government professor Brendan Nyhan.
Update Appended (Oct. 10, 9:07 p.m.): A previous version of this article stated that Bolsen pleaded guilty to two counts of aggravated criminal sexual abuse. The article has been updated to “Bolsen pleaded guilty to two counts of aggravated criminal sexual abuse against a victim between the ages of 13 to 18” to specify the age of his victim earlier in the article. His registration information has also been updated from “sex offender” to “child sex offender” for additional specificity.
