Firefighters in southern New Jersey uncovered child pornography while battling flames in the home of an architecture professor who works for Pratt Institute in Brooklyn.
State police arrested and charged 76-year-old Gamal El-Zoghby with child endangerment.
The professor told NBC New York in an exclusive interview that he "never touched anybody" younger than 19 and insisted the images were not kids.
"They were not children. They were young girls," he said.
El-Zoghby said he had been suspended from Pratt as of Thursday.
State police said firefighters in Eagleswood Township found a single magazine from the 1970s with pornographic images of pre-pubescent girls while fighting the fire.
State police spokesman Christopher Kay said firefighters were pulling sheet rock from the walls when the magazine fell from the ceiling.
El-Zoghby, who reportedly designed the home, was processed and released, authorities said.
The cause of the blaze is under investigation.
