Newport man indicted on pornography, pipe bomb charges

Deepa Bharath

SANTA ANA -- A federal grand jury on Wednesday indicted a 72-year-old

Newport Beach resident on charges of possessing child pornography and a

pipe bomb, officials said.

Bruce Knight Cleworth was indicted after Newport Beach police searched

his home Dec. 18 and found numerous images of child pornography -- all

printed versions stored in folders and binders, said Richard Lee,

spokesman for the U.S. attorney’s office.

Cleworth was arraigned Jan. 3 on the charge of possessing a pipe bomb,

to which he pleaded not guilty. Wednesday’s indictment adds the child

pornography count and supersedes the earlier indictment, which means

Cleworth will have to be arraigned in a federal court on both charges. He

is out on bail, Lee said.

Newport Beach police arrested Cleworth at his Broad Street home Dec.

18 on suspicion of molesting a teenager 26 years ago. The victim, now a

40-year-old Oregon resident, came forward recently and provided Newport

Beach detectives with leads that led to the arrest.

As of Wednesday, the Orange County district attorney has not filed any

charges against Cleworth accusing him of molestation. Jana Hoffmann, the

prosecutor on the case, said last month that the case was still under

investigation.

If convicted on the federal indictments, Cleworth will face a maximum

of five years in federal prison on the possession of child pornography

charge and 10 years on the pipe bomb charge.

Lee said in the eyes of federal courts possession of child pornography

is always a felony. In the county court system, it is often treated as a

misdemeanor -- a lower offense.

The child pornography charge was referred by Newport Beach police to

the U.S. Customs Service, which in turn passed it on to the U.S.

attorney’s office, Lee said.

“The pipe bomb charge came to us through Newport Beach police and the

federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms,” he said. “The Orange

County district attorney also assisted us in prosecuting the child

pornography charge.”

Cleworth is scheduled to appear at the Santa Ana Federal Courthouse on

Monday morning.