Jeffrey Jones, Paul Reubens Charged in Sex Probe

LOS ANGELES – Actor Paul Reubens, best known as Pee-wee Herman, and actor Jeffrey Jones of Ferris Bueller's Day Off were charged Friday in a year-old sex investigation.

Jones, 56, best known as the high school principal in Ferris Bueller, was charged with hiring a 14-year-old boy to pose for sexually explicit photos and possessing child pornography, the district attorney's office said.

"The charges do not involve any sex act being performed or any video or film being taken," said Sandi Gibbons, spokeswoman for the district attorney's office.

Jones' attorney, Jeffrey Brodey, told the Los Angeles Times that the charges are "all about photos. There's no allegations of any touching or any improper acts with a minor." Brodey did not immediately return a phone call Friday.

Reubens was charged with one misdemeanor count of possessing materials depicting children under the age of 18 engaged in sexual conduct, said Ana Garcia, a spokeswoman for the city attorney's office.

Reubens' attorney, Blair Berk, issued a statement saying the charge was untrue and without merit. "Mr. Reubens has never at any time knowingly possessed any artwork from his extensive vintage and antique art collection even remotely related to anything improper," he said.

Jones surrendered to police Thursday and was freed on $20,000 bail; he is scheduled to be arraigned next week. If convicted, he faces three years in prison and will have to register as a sex offender for life, Gibbons said.

Reubens, 50, was expected to surrender to police Friday and post $20,000 bail, Garcia said. He will be arraigned Dec. 19 and faces a maximum of one year in county jail and a $2,500 fine.

In 1991, Reubens pleaded no contest to an indecent exposure charge after being arrested in a Sarasota, Fla., movie theater. After that, his children's show was canceled and his star faded, but he has played supporting roles in the films Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Blow.

A widely recognized character actor, Jones played the music-loving Emperor Joseph II in Amadeus, the mentalist Criswell in Ed Wood and the father in Beetlejuice.

Authorities searched the homes of both men Nov. 16, 2001, the district attorney and city attorney said. The statute of limitations on the misdemeanors would have run out Saturday if charges had not been filed.