AYER, Mass. (AP) – A longtime Boy Scout leader has been charged with e-mailing hundreds of pictures of child pornography to an undercover police officer posing as a child porn collector.

Terrence Hurley, 55, of Ayer, pleaded innocent Friday to charges including distributing material of a child in a sexual act and possession of child pornography

Hurley allegedly e-mailed 724 images of naked boys, some engaged in sex acts, to Keene, N.H., detective James McLoughlin, who works on a special Internet porn unit, according to the Middlesex District Attorney’s Office.

Hurley has been assistant scoutmaster of Troop 3 of the Nashua Valley Council of the Boy Scouts of America for at least 20 years. Nashua Valley Scout Executive Gerald Bieler said he cut Hurley’s ties with the Boy Scouts when he learned of the arrest Friday afternoon.

Middlesex Assistant District Attorney Michael Ahern said Hurley told authorities he never had sex with boys but was curious. Ahern said America Online caught Hurley trading child pornography several years ago and closed his account. No charges were filed.

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Information from: The Sun, http://www.lowellsun.com

AP-ES-03-05-05 1223EST