Can we believe and forgive him twice?

Pee-Wee Herman Star Pleads Innocent to Porn Charge

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) – Actor-comedian Paul Reubens, best known as children’s television favorite Pee-wee Herman, pleaded innocent on Wednesday to a misdemeanor charge of possessing child pornography.
The plea was entered by Reubens’ attorney during an arraignment in Los Angeles Superior Court, and a pre-trial hearing was set for Jan. 3, a spokesman for the City Attorney’s Office said.
Reubens, whose career was nearly derailed in 1991 by a lewd conduct scandal, was not present for the arraignment. A spokeswoman for Reubens said the 50-year-old entertainer stood by a statement released last month saying the charge against him was “untrue and without merit.”
The misdemeanor charge stems from a search of Reubens’ home conducted in November 2001, when police “uncovered materials that we believe depict minors engaged in sexual activity,” the City Attorney’s spokesman said.
At issue in the case, according to Reubens’ publicist and his lawyer, were a handful of images from “an extensive collection of vintage physique art photography” seized at his home by police. His attorney, Blair Berk, has said her client was unaware the collection contained anything improper.
Reubens’ publicist said last month the investigation was sparked by unspecified allegations made by a teenager against Reubens and another actor, Jeffrey Jones, who was charged in a separate case.
Jones, who played the principal in “Ferris Bueller’s Day Off,” pleaded innocent last month to possessing child pornography and a felony count of using a minor for sex acts for allegedly hiring a 14-year-old boy to pose for sexually explicit photos.
Reubens, famed for his Pee-wee Herman persona, the nerdy man-child host of the popular children’s TV show “Pee-wee’s Playhouse,” had his career nearly destroyed in 1991 when he was arrested for allegedly masturbating in an adult movie theater.
He later pleaded no contest to a misdemeanor charge of indecent exposure and has since made a slow comeback with various character roles in film and TV shows.