Arraignment for district employee continued

The arraignment for a Huntington Beach City School District maintenance painter accused of possessing and distributing child pornography was continued to Jan. 31.

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 a news release from the Orange County district attorney’s office.

District Supt. Gregg Haulk said Friday that Hewson was put on unpaid leave after being arrested in November.

Hewson’s arraignment was originally set for Dec. 16 in the West Justice Center in Westminster.

If convicted, he faces up to three years and eight months in state prison and a mandatory lifetime sex offender registration. He is out on $100,000 bail.

On Aug. 27, Hewson was accused of having hundreds of sexually explicit photos of children on his personal computer at home. 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.

Haulk said Hewson was “never really around children” and usually painted when school was not in session.

— Anthony Clark Carpio

Twitter: @acocarpio

[For the record, 2:46 p.m. Dec. 13: An earlier version of this story incorrectly reported Hewson was a former district employee. In fact, he was placed on unpaid leave after his arrest.]