Pee-Wee Herman Fesses Up To Obscenity Charges

[Nathan F]

LOS ANGELES, California (AP) -- "Pee-wee Herman" actor Paul Reubens was sentenced to three years probation Friday after pleading guilty to a misdemeanor obscenity charge involving photographs seized from his erotica collection.

The former star of the "Pee-wee's Playhouse" children's TV show and two "Pee-wee" movies won't be allowed unsupervised contact with minors during the probation period.

Under terms of a plea agreement that Superior Court Judge Carol H. Rehm approved, Reubens also agreed to pay a $100 fine and enter a counseling program for one year.

Prosecutors dismissed a misdemeanor charge of child pornography that had carried a maximum sentence of a year in jail and a $2,500 fine.

However, the 51-year-old Reubens agreed to register as a sex offender for the duration of his probation.

"We view both of these counts equally in terms of serious nature of child pornography," said Eric Moses, a spokesman for the city attorney's office.

The charge resulted from a search of Reubens' home in November 2001. Police seized about 30,000 images from his photography collection and personal computers.

Reubens, who didn't appear in court Friday, pleaded guilty through his attorney to possession of obscene materials with the intent to exhibit, and in a Thursday court hearing he acknowledged possessing at least one image of minors engaged in sexual conduct, Moses said.

Evidence seized included images of minors with their genitals exposed, Moses contended.

"That mischaracterizes the art collection seized," Reubens' lawyer, Blair Berk said Friday. "If that means a black-and-white tintype from 1901 with a young man of indeterminate, 17- to 19-year-old age, laying on the beach after having gone skinny-dipping ... then they got it."

"It was clear from the start that we, along with the many distinguished art experts supporting Paul's art photography collection, vehemently disagreed with the city prosecutor's view of what constitutes art," Berk said.

In a statement, Reubens said he was glad that the child pornography charge had been dismissed without "a costly circus-like trial."

"Taking responsibility by calling a few images in this collection 'obscene' and paying a $100 fine seemed like the sanest way to make it end," he said.

Once Reubens completes probation, the conviction can be expunged from his record, Berk said.

In 1991, Reubens pleaded no contest to an indecent exposure charge after his arrest in Sarasota, Florida, for allegedly exposing himself in a movie theater.

Copyright 2004 The Associated Press.

And to think...I used to watch his show all the time.

[General Zod]

after his little wanking incident in the theater a few years back, somehow this does not surprise me.

[haas mark]

after his little wanking incident in the theater a few years back, somehow this does not surprise me.

That's precisely what I thought..

[Sea Skimmer]

A 100-dollar fine? I wonder what the date on that law is, 1826?

[haas mark]

A 100-dollar fine? I wonder what the date on that law is, 1826?

Well, it's not that so much as this that gets me:

Prosecutors dismissed a misdemeanor charge of child pornography that had carried a maximum sentence of a year in jail and a $2,500 fine.

...

"We view both of these counts equally in terms of serious nature of child pornography," said Eric Moses, a spokesman for the city attorney's office.

[General Zod]

that rather bothered me. i thought possession of child pornography was a felony.

[Superman]

Pee Wee is 51 years old?

[Darth Wong]

The fact that Pee-Wee Herman once jerked himself off in a porno theatre hardly means that he must be a pedophile. Did you people even bother reading the article? From the sounds of it, the "child" was a young adult in his late teens of ambiguous age in the midst of a huge art collection. If the police had anything real on him with regards to child pornography, I'm sure they would have pressed the issue.

[Nathan F]

Pee Wee is 51 years old?

That surprised me too...

[darthdavid]

I'm agreeing with mike here. It's not like he had never land pictures or something.

[haas mark]

The fact that Pee-Wee Herman once jerked himself off in a porno theatre hardly means that he must be a pedophile. Did you people even bother reading the article? From the sounds of it, the "child" was a young adult in his late teens of ambiguous age in the midst of a huge art collection. If the police had anything real on him with regards to child pornography, I'm sure they would have pressed the issue.

I'm surprised by the kiddie porno charge - what I'm not surprised by is the fact that they're charging him with some form of sexual infraction again.

[Aaron]

The fact that Pee-Wee Herman once jerked himself off in a porno theatre hardly means that he must be a pedophile. Did you people even bother reading the article? From the sounds of it, the "child" was a young adult in his late teens of ambiguous age in the midst of a huge art collection. If the police had anything real on him with regards to child pornography, I'm sure they would have pressed the issue.

Pee-Wee was charged with wanking off in a porno theater? Thats like handing out speeding tickets at the Indy 500. I thought his offence was exposing himself to a minor.

[haas mark]

The fact that Pee-Wee Herman once jerked himself off in a porno theatre hardly means that he must be a pedophile. Did you people even bother reading the article? From the sounds of it, the "child" was a young adult in his late teens of ambiguous age in the midst of a huge art collection. If the police had anything real on him with regards to child pornography, I'm sure they would have pressed the issue.

Pee-Wee was charged with wanking off in a porno theater? Thats like handing out speeding tickets at the Indy 500. I thought his offence was exposing himself to a minor.

I don't know about that one, but I thought it was an indecent exposure charge. -shrug-