Cleric charged in raid on 'porn farm' for teens

ALTO, Tenn. P A private rehabilitative home for teen-age boys. operated by an ordained Episcopal priest, was a national center for homosexual pornography, Dist. Atty. Gen. William Pope said yesterday.

Pope said he would go before a grand jury today seeking indictments against the Rev. Bud Vermilye Jr. for crimes including sodomy and oral sex, and for filming homosexual acts.

The Rev. Mr. Vermilye was arrested on a warrant charging him with "a crime against nature" based on a 1974 incident. Police would not elaborate or identify the complainants. Bond was set at $10,000.

According to an affidavit filed in court by Pope, the Rev. Mr. Vermilye "encourages, aids and abets acts of fellatio and sodomy between

students of the Boys Farm, and films and photographs said acts.”

"The main thing we're charging him with is making films of these children and sending them around the country," Pope said.

The Rev. Mr. Vermilye had no comment.

The farm was raided last Thurs: day and police said they took several juveniles into protective custody and seized the priest's records, including a list of what Pope said were as many as 200 sponsors.

"We also understand some of the sponsosrs came to the Boys Farm and participated in the films themselves," he said.

The farm is privately funded, Pope said, but it was not immediately clear by whom. "It's a sort of rehabilitative home for teen-age boys who come from broken homes," he said.