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Pleas of "not guilty" were entered in Kenai Superior Court on Monday on behalf of a 46-year-old Kenai church youth leader on charges ranging including sexual abuse of a minor, indecent exposure and possession of child pornography.

Kenai attorney Peter Mysing entered the pleas for Richard J. Wagner of Kenai, who was indicted by a Kenai grand jury Friday on five counts of second-degree sexual abuse of a minor, one count of first-degree and one count of second-degree indecent exposure and 11 counts of possession of child pornography.

Wagner, who was led into court by corrections officers, was taken back to Wildwood Pretrial Facility following his arraignment.

Kenai police arrested Wagner on April 18, following an investigation by the Alaska Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force looking into child pornography.

When task force members served a search warrant at Wagner's Kenai residence, they seized multiple items including at least 20 pornographic videos on a computer.

The investigation revealed Wagner allowed at least two boys to spend the night at his residence unsupervised, according to Alaska State Troopers, and during police interviews, one of the boys told Kenai police of the alleged sexual abuse.

Charging documents indicate Wagner touched the genitals of a 12-year-old boy identified only as "C.T." on a number of occasions between Nov. 1, 2007 and April 18, 2008, and exposed himself to C.T. and "another person under 16 years of age."

Judge Carl Bauman ordered bail to remain at $20,000 appearance and $20,000 performance and required Wagner to have a court-approved third-party custodian if he is to be released.

A jury trial has been scheduled to begin during the week of July 21.

Phil Hermanek can be reached at phillip.hermanek@peninsulaclarion.com.