Gonzales, CALIFORNIA

July 25, 2008 - Craig Dinwiddie, 52, a Spanish teacher at Gonzales High School, was arrested and charged with seven counts of possession of child pornography, two for distribution; two counts of annoying children and one count of possession of marijuana.

Alerted on May 28 when someone reported that child pornography had been sent to two people from an unknown Internet user in Gonzales, police tracked the account to Dinwiddie in early June. They served a search warrant for Dinwiddie's home and confiscated computers, memory sticks, photographs and other items and sent them to the Salinas Police Department crime lab for analysis. It took about a month to go through all of the digital information.

None of the minors in the pornography is a local resident, but police seized a number of photos of local teenagers that "seemed inappropriate." Police Chief Paul Miller said the investigation took some time because police sought to identify and interview the local youths in the photos that Dinwiddie allegedly took without their knowledge. The subjects in the photos were fully clothed, but the images "focused on various parts of the body," he said.

KSWB: (July 24) Police: Teacher Distributed Child Porn

NOT GUILTY PLEA August 2 - Dinwiddie pleaded not guilty to two felony charges for distributing and possessing child pornography. (Police originally reported that Dinwiddie had been arrested on misdemeanor charges of annoying or molesting a child and marijuana possession. Assistant District Attorney Stephanie Hulsey said the charges are under investigation and additional counts could be filed. )

He was on paid administrative leave. Under state law, that status becomes unpaid leave when criminal charges are filed involving crimes against children.

PRELIMINARY WAIVED October 28 - Dinwiddie waived his right to a preliminary hearing this morning and will head straight toward trial on felony and misdemeanor child pornography charges. He will be arraigned on November 20 and a trial date will be set.