School board member faces child porn charge

SPRINGFIELD, Mo. (AP) - Court documents say child porn was found on a southwest Missouri school board member's electronic devices while authorities were investigating reports that he exposed himself.

Sixty-seven-year-old John Lewis, of Sarcoxie, was charged Friday in federal court in Springfield with possessing child pornography.

The U.S. attorney's office said Lewis was arrested before Thursday night's Sarcoxie school board meeting. He remains in federal custody and doesn't have an attorney.

The affidavit says Missouri State Highway Patrol troopers contacted Lewis while investigating reports that he exposed himself to a group of high school students who were working for him on his farm outside Sarcoxie. Troopers obtained a search warrant and found 19 multimedia files of child pornography and 113 images of suspected child pornography.

Authorities say children as young as 5 were shown.

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