ROOSEVELT, N.Y., Nov. 18 (UPI) -- A popular Long Island, N.Y., priest has pleaded not guilty in federal court after being arrested on child pornography charges.
The FBI raided the rectory of Queen of the Most Holy Rosary Church and found the computer of the Rev. Thomas Saloy packed with 1,300 still photographs and video clips of children engaged in sexually explicit activities, The New York Daily News reported Saturday.
Saloy, 45, came to the attention of authorities after a "kiddie-porn" peddler was arrested in Milwaukee. Agents traced e-mail messages to Saloy's AOL account, a criminal complaint states.
The priest allegedly trolled for boys in Internet chat rooms, seeking sexually explicit images, and admitted he "went online posing as a 15-year-old boy to engage other 15-year-old boys in sexual chats," the complaint says.
Saloy, ordained in 1988, has been placed on administrative leave and may not present himself as a priest in public pending the outcome of the investigation, a spokesman for the Diocese of Rockville Centre said.
