A Kapolei man who officiated youth soccer games is one of 27 people charged in an international Internet child pornography ring.

Giovanni Canapino, 19, was charged this week with possessing child pornography. He remains in the Federal Detention Center pending a hearing March 29 on whether he should be held without bail.

If convicted, Canapino faces a maximum 10 years in prison.

Canapino is accused of participating in an Internet chatroom that transmitted live feeds of child molestation and exchanged thousands of pictures of child pornography, federal authorities said. The youngest child seen on the site was less than 18 months old, according to U.S. Attorney General Alberto Gonzales.

The child pornography ring was uncovered in Chicago by agents with the Immigration and Customs Enforcement division of the Department of Homeland Security. In January, an undercover agent entered a chat room known as "kiddypics & kiddyvids" where participants shared and discussed pictures and videos, according to an affidavit filed in U.S. District Court.

Agents arrested the moderator of the chatroom in Chicago and took over operations and renamed the site "Kids-r-us." On March 5, agents monitored chats by a participant who went by the name of "Geograns 763," which the affidavit said was traced to a man in Kapolei.

"Geograns 763" had offered a file of a boy being molested by a man, the affidavit said. "Geograns 763" also wrote that he liked boys and that he wanted to have sex with boys, the affidavit said.

On Saturday, agents executed a search warrant on Canapino's home and found a computer hard drive, compact discs and computer files that contained child pornography, the affidavit said. Printed copies of child pornography placed in a composition notebook also were found under Canapino's bed, the affidavit said.

After he was arrested, Canapino told the agents that he did take part in the chatroom and he admitted "having sexual contact" with two boys, ages 10 and 12, the affidavit said. He said he kissed the boys and touched their genitals, but denied having sexual intercourse with them, the affidavit said.

Canapino also denied having inappropriate contact with the boys involved in soccer games that he refereed, the document said.

Federal Assistant Public Defender Pamela Byrne, who is representing Canapino, could not be reached for comment yesterday.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Larry Tong said Canapino will be evaluated to determine if he should be placed on conditional release pending his trial. Tong said his office will argue that Canapino be held without bail.

"The defense made the argument that he's a 19-year-old person who should be released as soon as possible," Tong said. "Our feeling is that he admitted molesting two young boys ages 10 and 12 and the harm posed by his release is not mitigated by his age.

"The most disturbing aspect of the chatroom was that the moderators were featuring live, streaming video of adults molesting children."

Canapino is one of 13 people from nine states charged in connection with the pornography ring. Fourteen others have been charged in Australia, Canada and Britain, while one person remains at large.

Department of Human Services Assistant Secretary Julie Myers said investigators told her this case was among the worst they've seen.

"It's hard to find cases more heinous than those that involve child molestation," Myers said.

Reach Curtis Lum at culum@honoluluadvertiser.com.