By Andrew Carranza

Allied News Staff Writer

To Grove City College, John Gechter was a bright young student majoring in molecular biology.

But to his online audience, he was Vincent DeSalvo, a baby-faced rising star in the gay pornography industry.

Both worlds unexpectedly crashed into each other two weeks ago after his online persona was discovered at GCC.

“A student on campus was browsing inappropriate content online and recognized me on a (pornography) Web site,” said the 22-year-old Philadelphia native. “He copied and pasted some images and sent an e-mail to some friends. GCC is a pretty small school, so the e-mail spread like wildfire.”

Gechter began his career in gay pornography late in his sophomore year, two years ago. During that time, Gechter successfully kept Vincent DeSalvo a secret from his life at GCC. No one knew about his off-campus job, not even his roommate at the Colonial Apartment complex.

That ended the night of April 23 when the first e-mail revealing his online identity was sent out. By the next morning, at least two-thirds of the student population had received the e-mail. So did school administration.

GCC officials have decided to indefinitely suspend Gechter for one year for his activities, pending his decision to appeal to the provost.

“I absolutely believe the college (has) violated my rights,” Gechter said. “They (suspended) me based on my occupation. I was not doing anything illegal.”

But according to GCC Communications Director Amy Clingensmith, Gechter’s involvement in the porn industry “exhibited behavior contrary to the values” of the college.

Ms. Clingensmith said the college’s main concern was for Gechter.

“Clearly something happened since he’s been here for four years that led him down this unfortunate path,” she said. “We want to get him out of that type of life.”

But according to Gechter, acting in porn helped him pay tuition at GCC.