ONE of America’s top Boy Scout officials pleaded guilty yesterday to possessing and distributing child pornography over the internet after being caught in an international crackdown on paedophile material.

Douglas Sovereign Smith Jr, 61, faces a prison term of between 5 and 20 years without parole and a fine of up to $250,000 (£130,000). A court in Fort Worth released him until his sentencing on July 12.

He has been forced out of his job as national programme director at the Scouts’ headquarters in Dallas after a 39-year career in which he has won repeated accolades from the organisation.

Two years ago he began running a “Youth Protection” task force that encourages people to use the internet and other resources to report child abuse within the Scouting movement.

Although his administrative job did not bring him into contact with children, he had in the past worked as a Scout leader. There was no indication that Scouts were in any of the sexually explicit photos found in his possession.

His downloading and distributing of pictures of children engaged in sex acts stood in stark contrast to the Scouting pledge to be “morally straight”.

The organisation said it was shocked and dismayed at the prosecution.

Although the case is a first for the Boy Scouts movement, the organisation has made repeated headlines in recent years because of court battles over membership rules, which exclude girls, atheists and homosexuals.

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