Ex-church official pleads not guilty to child porn

WAUKESHA, Wis. (AP) — A former official with the Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Synod has pleaded not guilty to possessing child pornography.

WISN-TV reports that Joel Hochmuth was ordered Friday to stand trial on charges he had hundreds of pictures and videos on his computer and a storage device of boys engaged in sex acts.

Investigators allege Hochmuth shared those files online with an undercover FBI agent.

Hochmuth was the director of communications for the conservative Lutheran church body, known as WELS, which is based in Wauwatosa.. He was fired after his arrest in November.

The criminal complaint says he told investigators had been struggling with an addiction to child pornography.