MANCHESTER, N.H. — A veteran newspaper sports reporter was charged Wednesday with running a prostitution ring in New Hampshire and Massachusetts and possibly into Canada.

Kevin Provencher advertised his prostitution ring’s services on Craigslist and other Web sites and rented hotel rooms in Andover, Mass., and in New Hampshire where the women would have sex for money, prosecutors said.
Provencher was arrested at his Manchester home early Wednesday and was taken to Massachusetts, where he was ordered held on $10,000 cash bail during his arraignment in Lawrence District Court. He pleaded not guilty to two counts of deriving support from prostitution.
Provencher, 50, has been suspended from the New Hampshire Union Leader, where he has been a sports writer for more than two decades.
The newspaper’s management issued a statement calling Provencher “a valued employee for many years.”
“He is innocent until proven guilty,” it said. “However, given the nature and seriousness of the charges, he is suspended until further notice.”
Provencher’s lawyer, Jessica Thrall, did not immediately return a telephone call seeking comment Wednesday.