BURBANK : Child Pornography Suspect Arraigned

A Burbank man accused of operating a mail-order pornography business that involved children who appeared to be as young as 3 was arraigned Tuesday in Los Angeles Superior Court, authorities said.

Adin Garner, 65, pleaded not guilty to 10 counts of exhibiting a minor in pornography and distributing and advertising obscene materials, Deputy Dist. Atty. Gregory J. Denton said.

If convicted of the charges, Garner, who remains in custody pending $100,000 bail, faces a maximum sentence of eight years in prison, Denton said. A pretrial hearing has been set for March 24.

Los Angeles police arrested Garner at his Burbank home in December after using an alias and a post office box to place orders for child pornography videotapes.

Police believed that Garner was distributing videotapes nationally and that he made some tapes by quickly flipping pages in front of a camera of pornography magazines that featured children. The bulk of the tapes sold for $75 to $200, earning Garner at least $1,000 a week, police said.

Garner, who used the alias Mel Lennon, had been involved in the pornography distribution business since the 1960s and had previously been convicted for those activities, authorities said.