A federal judge has thrown out evidence from a baggage search at the Hilo airport last year that discovered photographs of naked children.

U.S. District Judge J. Michael Seabright yesterday ruled that the search by federal Transportation Security Administration officers went beyond the scope of their duties to find weapons and explosives.

The judge also concluded that a TSA officer's recollections of the search were vague and contradictory.

The August 2008 search was of a bag belonging to Simon Jasper McCarty, who lives in the United Kingdom. He was in Hawai'i to give a seminar on drum circles. He has been in custody since his arrest at the airport by Big Island police.

Prosecutors did not comment on the ruling yesterday.