An artistic advisor for the Boston Philharmonic Orchestra and Boston Philharmonic Youth Orchestra is facing federal charges after admitting to downloading thousands of child pornography files, the Office of Massachusetts U.S. Attorney of Massachusetts Andrew Lelling said.

David St. George, a 71-year-old Arlington resident, was arrested Tuesday and charged with one count of child pornography possession and a count of receipt of child pornography.

St. George, who ran the Discovery Ensemble chamber orchestra before its shutdown in 2014, admitted to collecting child pornography in a "feverish and crazed" way for about a year and a half, Homeland Security Investigations Special Agent Janet Connolly wrote in an affidavit.

He had a "close and personal" relationship with the 12 to 21 year old members of the Philharmonic's youth orchestra, Boston Philharmonic Musical Director Benjamin Zander wrote in a blog post.

St. George denied ever engaging in sexual acts with any children, and has not been charged with doing so.

The investigation into St. George was sparked in March, when police in the English county of Kent traced a child pornography download link to an email address accessed from the United States.

English authorities referred their findings to the Department of Homeland Security's Homeland Security Investigations division, who in July obtained Verizon records linking the address to St. George.

Investigators reviewed the files accessed by the download link, and found 83 images and videos of child pornography, according to the criminal complaint. The files included videos of young children being raped.

On September, investigators obtained a warrant to search St. George's Arlington home. On Tuesday ICE-HSI personnel executed the search warrant and encountered St. George, who was willing to talk.

"St. George admitted to the agents that he had a large collection of child pornography at home," the criminal complaint said.

St. George allegedly admitted to using a file sharing service to send and receive child pornography, and to using the "dark web" -- a hidden part of the internet only accessibly using an anonymous browser -- to download additional child porn.

Agents found a thumb drive and a three ring binder containing child pornography, the complaint said.

"The Boston Philharmonic learned of the arrest of David St. George this afternoon," Boston Philharmonic Managing Director Elisabeth Christensen said in a statement. "The Boston Philharmonic has suspended David St. George pending further investigation."

It is not the first time Zander, the orchestra's director, has faced controversy involving sex crime allegations against his employees. In 2012, Zander was fired from the New England Conservatory after he defended the hiring of a known sex offender to film performances by youth musicians, the Boston Globe reported at the time.