Zeulsdorf faces child pornography charges

March 27, 2008

Robert Zuelsdorf, the former Wilbur Smith Associates chief executive, has been arrested in Florida on 160 counts of possessing child pornography, authorities said.

Zuelsdorf, who ran the Columbia-based engineering and consulting firm for five years until his sudden retirement in 2004, faces up to 800 years in prison if convicted.

He has been released on a $164,000 bond after his arrest on March 14.

Zuelsdorf, 64, has no previous criminal record, authorities said.

A computer technician called police in Kissimmee, Fla., this month after he discovered an image of what appeared to be child pornography on a computer.

A forensic review of the computer hard drive found 160 images of children ages 1 to 12 as well as sexually themed stories about children, Kissimmee police said.

Zuelsdorf told police the computer belonged to him, authorities said.

'The police don't have it right,' Zuelsdorf's wife, Elaine, said in a call to their Kissimmee home Thursday before hanging up.

Zuelsdorf spent 34 years at Wilbur Smith before his immediate retirement was announced Aug. 4, 2004. 'It was just time to retire,' he said at the time.

Wilbur Smith spokeswoman Danielle Gadow said she as far as she knew Zuelsdorf's departure was not because of job performance: 'He made the decision to retire.'

Columbia's second-largest engineering firm has no current connections with Zuelsdorf, Gadow said. Wilbur Smith employs more than 1,400 in 62 offices worldwide.

Reach Shain at (803) 771-8619.

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