Long Island Boy Scouts Leader Arraigned on Child Porn Charges

Authorities say 23-year-old Edward Orenchuk III was arrested at his home in Garden City on Wednesday. They say he had hundreds of images of child pornography on his computer.

 

Orenchuk was arraigned Thursday in First District Court in Hempstead. He did not enter a plea and his lawyer was from Legal Aide, which typically does not comment.

 

Authorities say Orenchuk is an assistant scout master for Troop 243 in Garden City and works as a page at the Garden City Public Library.

 

The Boy Scouts says Orenchuk was dropped from the organization once the organization learned of the charges. A library spokeswoman said Orenchuk was hired in July 2005 and his duties included shelving, organizing and transporting books, along with cleaning activity areas.

 

Orenchuk had "minimal contact with patrons" and has been taken off the library's work schedule until the matter is resolved, the spokeswoman said.

 

Neighbors of Orenchuk said they were surprised to hear of the arrest, noting that there were many small children in the community.

 

"He always said 'Hi' to my son and things like that," said Tito Velazquez.

 

If convicted, Orenchuk faces up to seven years in prison.