MOBILE, Ala. (AP) - A University of South Alabama economics professor has been fired after pleading guilty in Florida to one count of trying to send obscene pictures to a minor.

University spokesman Keith Ayers said 43-year-old Barry Simpson of Mobile was fired Thursday after pleading guilty in an agreement with the U.S. Attorney's Office in the Southern District of Florida.

Prosecutors said a second charge would be dismissed.

Simpson was arrested in November on charges accusing him of sending the pictures to an FBI agent posing as a 13-year-old girl.

Simpson, who remains out on bail, is scheduled to be sentenced in federal court in Miami on Sept. 28.

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Information compiled by AP from: Press-Register, http://www.al.com/mobileregister

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