Former Penn State CIO pleads guilty to strangulation, assault charges
Keith Brautigam, a former Pennsylvania State University chief information officer, on Monday pleaded guilty to assault and strangulation charges tied to a domestic dispute that occurred in October 2023.
Brautigam pleaded guilty to a felony count of strangulation, a misdemeanor count of simple assault and a summary count of harassment, the Daily Collegian reported.
According to court documents, Brautigam, who started at the school in 2014, grabbed a woman’s neck during an argument and squeezed until she couldn’t breathe. Responding police reported seeing bruising around her neck and red and irritated skin.
Brautigam had told police that he “lost physical control of his body and may have choked her,” according to an affidavit.
In May 2022, Brautigam became chief information security officer and five months later stepped into the dual role of deputy CIO and CISO. He was appointed to the university’s CIO and interim vice president for IT in June 2023.
