Fountain Valley Man Charged in Child Porn Case

A Huntington Beach City School District maintenance worker is scheduled to be arraigned in Westminster today on suspicion of possessing and distributing child pornography.

Roger Scott Hewson, 51, of Fountain Valley, has been charged with one count of possession and control of child pornography and one count of distributing obscene matter, according to the Orange County district attorney's office.

District Superintendent Gregg Haulk told the Huntington Beach Independent on Friday that Hewson was put on unpaid leave after being arrested in November, the Los Angeles Times reported.

On Aug. 27, Hewson was accused of having hundreds of sexually explicit photos of children on his personal computer at home, The Times reported. He was also suspected to have distributed the images to others on the Internet.

The Huntington Beach Police Department, with help from the U.S. Department of Justice's Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force, arrested Hewson on Nov. 7 at Dwyer Middle School, according to The Times.

Haulk said Hewson, a painter for the district, was "never really around children" and usually painted when school was not in session.

If convicted, Hewson may be required to register as a sex offender for life and faces up to three years and eight months in state prison. He is out on $100,000 bail.

-- City News Service