Man Charged Under New Law on Having Child Pornography

A 39-year-old Van Nuys man was charged Wednesday with possessing photographs, magazines and videotapes depicting children engaged in sex acts, the first use in Los Angeles of a new state law against possession of child pornography, the Los Angeles city attorney’s office announced.

Charged with one count under the new law was Larry Earl Wiese, 39, the manager of a fast-food restaurant in La Crescenta.

If convicted under a law that went into effect Jan. 1, Wiese faces up to one year in jail or a $2,500 fine or both.

City Atty. James Hahn said Los Angeles police discovered the pornography on Jan. 23 in Wiese’s bedroom in a three-bedroom house he shares with two other men. The detectives were at the house in the investigation of a complaint by a woman who said she had been raped there, Hahn said.

Wiese, who is not a suspect in the rape, allowed the investigators to search his room, Deputy City Atty. Tracy Webb said.

The detectives spotted a magazine containing photographs of nude children engaged in sex acts in an open drawer of a nightstand beside Wiese’s bed, Webb said. The detectives confiscated additional materials that depicted naked children, both male and female, engaging in a variety of sex acts, the deputy city attorney said.

Wiese, who is free on $250 bail, is to be arraigned March 8 in Los Angeles Municipal Court, Webb said.