Former Boy Scouts Official Arrested on Child Porn Charges

WASHINGTON, March 29, 2005— -- A former Boy Scouts of America official has been charged with possession and distribution of child pornography.

Douglas Sovereign Smith Jr., who as national program director planned activities for thousands of Scouts across the country, was accused of receiving over the Internet images of children engaging in sexually explicit acts.

Smith, 61, was also chairman of the Scout's Youth Protection League -- alerting Scout leaders to the dangers of predators on the Internet, ABC News has learned.

Law enforcement officials indicated the pictures did not show boys who were affiliated with the Boy Scouts, according to Gregg Shields, national spokesman for the Boy Scouts.

Tip From German Authorities

U.S. customs and immigration agents began investigating Smith last year after German authorities in Frankfurt tipped them off to his alleged ties to an Internet child pornographer.

Customs agents connected the child pornography to an e-mail address that was traced to Smith. He was arrested as part of an international crackdown on Internet child pornography that has netted 5,000 suspects so far.

"There's no typology for the child pornographer," said John Clark, deputy assistant secretary for Immigration and Customs Enforcement. "And that's part of the problem we have in law enforcement. They run the gamut of persons, doctors, lawyers, teachers, priests, clergymen of all sorts."

"You're going to find people who are accessing pornography from every segment of our society, which means we need to do a better job of protecting our kids and make no assumptions about where our kids might be safe," said Shay Bilchik, president and chief executive officer of the Child Welfare League of America.

The Boy Scouts organization issued a statement saying it was "dismayed and shocked to learn of the charges against" Smith.

The group placed Smith on administrative leave last February after learning of the investigation. Smith, who had been with the Scouts for 38 years with no indication of prior criminal activity, immediately retired.

Smith is expected to appear in federal court Wednesday. Prosecutors say they expect him to plead guilty.

ABC News' Pierre Thomas filed this report for "World News Tonight."