Ex-USC Prof.'s Associate, Also Charged With Child Porn, Arrested in Storage Unit

Richard Arlington is associated with Walter Lee Williams, according to the FBI

A former USC professor suspected of luring teen boys into sex overseas had an associate who is likewise charged with possession of child pornography and who was found by police naked inside a storage unit.

Both men, 64-year-old Walter Lee Williams and 71-year-old Richard Leonard Arlington, were scheduled for arraignment hearings in Los Angeles federal court on Thursday.

Williams was named Monday as one of the FBI’s Ten Most Wanted Fugitives and was promptly captured in the Mexican resort town of Playa del Carmen. He is accused of luring underage boys in the Philippines into having sex with him, and then producing pornography documenting the acts.

Authorities described him Wednesday as a "heinous individual." It took more than two years to build a case against him after a USC student reported suspicions to police in early 2011.

RELATED: Ex-Professor to Appear in Court on Sex Charges

Court documents describe an associate of his – identified by the FBI as Arlington – who was taken into custody, prompting authorities to unseal the indictment against Williams. Authorities had feared Arlington would flee if the case against Williams was made public.

Laura Eimiller, a spokeswoman for the FBI’s Los Angeles Field Office, said the two were members of a group called the Buddhist Universal Association. The religious organization was described on the "wanted" flyer that the FBI distributed for Williams.

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“We do believe that he and others involved in this org held the belief that it was acceptable to sleep with minors,” Eimiller told NBC4.

Arlington was arrested May 14 by Cathedral City police after a federal criminal complaint filed May 7 accused him of possession of child pornography. He was found by police officers “lying nude on a makeshift bed inside of a rented storage unit.”

Upon arrest, Arlington complained of chest pains and asked officers to get his heart medicine from the storage unit. He was later hospitalized.

Court records show that Arlington waived his right to appear in court in person Thursday. He entered a plea of not guilty on Wednesday.

Arlington is being represented by two federal public defenders.

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