A 96-year-old retired priest who was once a high-ranking official of the Archdiocese of New York was arraigned in State Supreme Court in the Bronx on Tuesday on charges of possessing child pornography. The pictures, which were on his computer, were of girls ages 8 to 14 years old performing sex acts with men or posing naked, the Bronx district attorney said.

In announcing the indictment, the Bronx district attorney, Darcel D. Clark, said that Msgr. Harry J. Byrne, who lives at the St. John Vianney Center for Retired Priests in the Bronx, regularly showed people who came into his room the disturbing images.

“Anyone who views child pornography supports horrific child exploitation,” Ms. Clark said in a news release.

Monsignor Byrne pleaded not guilty to the charges.

“Monsignor Byrne has dedicated 72 years to charity in the church with an unsullied history,” said his lawyer, Marvin Ray Raskin. “It is difficult to imagine that at the age of 96, he knowingly understood and is responsible for the content of a particular subject on a computer accessible to numerous people.”