SAN DIEGO -- A Roman Catholic priest from Point Loma, included in an international probe of child pornography, pleaded not guilty Wednesday to misdemeanor possession of child porn charges and was jailed on $40,000 bail.

The Rev. Gary Michael Holtey, 59, was ordered into custody by San Diego Superior Court Commissioner Robert C. Rice despite arguments from defense attorney Daniel Williams that the defendant traveled from a Maryland rehabilitation center to make his court appearance.

Agents searched the St. Charles Borromeo Catholic Church and Academy parish office on May 6 and found printouts of child erotica and pornography, gay porn videos, film negatives of nude men and computer equipment, according to court documents.

"The defendant has a sexual preference for young boys," said Deputy City Attorney Judy Taschner, in arguing for $50,000 bail. "All minors are potential victims in his presence."

Taschner said Holtey left the state during the investigation, and authorities consider the defendant a flight risk and a danger to young boys he might come into contact with.

But Williams said the San Diego Catholic Diocese in providing financial and emotional support for Holtey's stay at the Maryland rehabilitation facility, where he is getting counseling.

"This employer, the diocese, is in support of him," Williams said. "It's not a facility where there are any children."

Rice disagreed with Williams that the case involved victimless crimes.

Taschner said the case "screams loudly for the posting of bail."

"It's not a victimless crime," Taschner added.

Taschner said authorities are still working to identify an image of a young boy from Thailand taken from the defendant's camera.

"They are all victims who are being sexually exploited," Taschner said.

Holtey is one of more than 100 people in San Diego and Imperial counties who have been under scrutiny as part of an international investigation and linked to child pornography sites through credit card transactions, authorities said.

Holtey told investigators he had looked at child porn for years on the Internet and that the investigators would find material he had collected in a chest of drawers next to his bed, authorities said. He also admitted that he downloaded the material in his office, authorities said.

Holtey was pastor of the parish until he went on leave and the resigned shortly after church officials were notified of the May 6 raid, authorities said.

The defendant could face several years in jail if convicted, Taschner said. Each of the 20 counts is punishable by up to a year in jail.

Outside court, a man who said he has known Holtey for 34 years, Dominic Martina, told reporters his friend is a good person.

"I think this is a career that's been ruined," Martina said. "I know this man has never touched a child."

At least five other local people have been charged or arrested as part of the child porn bust conducted by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, officials said. Among them are two members of the military, a former assistant high school principal and an Encinitas elementary school teacher.

Rice set a readiness conference for Jan. 7 and a trial date of Jan. 21.