DURHAM A judge is backing N.C. Central University officials who fired a campus police officer after learning he sold sex toys out of the trunk of his car while in uniform and on duty.

A state administrative law judge this week upheld the university's decision to fire Lt. Michael Shaw last year.

"Petitioner's conduct of engaging in and carrying on his private business of selling sexual products to subordinate police officers while on campus and at times when he was on duty constituted unacceptable personal conduct," Senior Administrative Law Judge Fred G. Morrison Jr. wrote in a ruling Wednesday.

In his appeal, Shaw admitted selling the items but said he only did so while on break. He said in his view, the products were "not pornographic."

Shaw also used his personal email to send an advertisement for a product to university email addresses for some of his co-workers, according to court records.

The message was for a product called "Magic Power Coffee" he claimed would "improve overall sexual experience."

In May 2010, according to court records, Shaw took a woman officer he supervised to the police department's parking lot and showed her items he had for sale, including an array of personal massagers, handcuffs, oils and whips.

The officer agreed to buy two personal massagers for $65 and Shaw provided her a written invoice for the items, according to court records. However, the woman later said she didn't have the money to pay and returned the items.

In a separate transaction, Shaw sold a male police officer he supervised a $10 packet of the aphrodisiac coffee, according to the judge's ruling.

Shaw had a checkered work history in his six years as a campus officer. He was previously disciplined for leaving work before the end of his shift, conducting an illegal search, causing a car crash and failing to pass his firearms certification "despite the university providing him numerous hours of practice time and ammunition," according to thejudge's findings.

Defense lawyer Mark Key of Lillington said Friday that his client will appeal.

Key stressed that Shaw sold items to officers who were his friends, not to students or faculty members.

"He was on his break," Key said. "None of these products are illegal."