A Penn State University fraternity is being suspended for a year as police investigate allegations that members posted photos of nude and semi-clad women on a private Facebook account.
The national executive director of Kappa Delta Rho told the Penn State chapter in a letter on Tuesday it must reorganize and is banned from most activities for the near future.
The chapter can appeal the decision. Chapter officials haven't responded to messages seeking comment.
A Penn State administrator calls the allegations a violation of the standards and values required for recognized student organizations.
Damon Sims, Penn State's vice president for student affairs, calls the postings "appalling, offensive and inconsistent with the university's values and expectations."
WJACTV.com obtained a search warrant and reported that several members of the frat allegedly took pictures of the mostly nude women and posted the pictures online.
"It appears they were passed out or sleeping," Lt. Keith Robb, a college police officer, told the station. One page was reportedly called, "Covert Business Transactions" and it had about 150 members. The news station reported that police obtained about 20 photos as evidence.
Police said anyone who posted the photos could face arrest on charges that include invasion of privacy.
An investigation of the informant's computer "yielded information on two victims whose images would rise to the level of criminal action," Robb said.
A former member of Kappa Delta Rho at the university's flagship campus in State College tipped police off to the page, telling them in January that it had been used by members to share photos of "unsuspecting victims, drug sales and hazing," according to a copy of a police warrant obtained Tuesday by The Associated Press.
The ex-member also provided authorities with printouts from the page.
Police said the informant who visited the police station provided brief explanations about individual photos. One, he said, showed a woman vomiting in a member's room. Another, he said, showed "the type of stuff that happens at KDR." Two other images showed strippers hired by the fraternity for a party.
Some of the posts included with the warrant were images of cellphone text exchanges, including one from a woman apparently concerned about a casual sexual encounter the night before and whether birth control was used.
News of the suspension follows recent reports of frats being punished for their behavior, including an Oklahoma fraternity shut down over a racist chant caught on video.
The Associated Press contributed to this report
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