Ex-Missouri School Board Member Withdraws Guilty Plea in Child Pornography Case

A former southwest Missouri school board member has withdrawn a guilty plea to a charge of possessing child pornography.

Former Sarcoxie School Board member John Lewis withdrew the plea after hiring new attorneys. The 67-year-old Lewis pleaded guilty in October in federal court and faced up to 10 years in prison. A federal judge allowed Lewis to withdraw the plea last week.

The Joplin Globe reports the end of the plea deal means Lewis will face a second count of receiving child pornography over the Internet. .

Investigators say they seized three computers and some electronic storage devices from Lewis' home. They allegedly contained 19 multimedia files and 113 images of suspected child pornography.