Prosecutors in Los Angeles have filed criminal charges against two Hollywood actors - Paul Reubens, known as Pee-wee Herman, and Jeffrey Jones - following a year-long child pornography investigation.

This is all about photos. There's no allegations of any touching or any improper acts.

Jones's lawyer

Jones - who is 56 and best known for his role in the 1986 film Ferris Bueller's Day Off - was charged with hiring a 14-year-old boy to pose for sexually explicit photos, and with possession of child pornography.

Fifty-year-old Reubens, an acquaintance of Jones's, was charged with one count of possessing materials depicting children engaged in sexual conduct.

Reubens denies the charge. His career suffered a setback in 1991 after he was charged with indecent exposure. He was ordered to do community service.

Reubens could now face a fine and one year in jail if convicted. If Jones is found guilty, he faces up to three years in prison and would have to register as a sex offender for life.

Both men have been released on $20,000 bail.

Faded star

"This is all about photos. There's no allegations of any touching or any improper acts with a minor," Jones's lawyer told the Los Angeles Times.

"This will be resolved very quickly so he can get on with his life and get back to work," he said.

Reubens denies the allegations.

Mr Jones's lawyer said his client was cooperating with police.

Los Angeles prosecutors said the arrests and charges resulted from an investigation that started a year ago, during which the homes of both men were searched following allegations from a boy who is now aged 15.

Reubens's lawyer dismissed the charge against his client as "simply untrue and without merit".

In 1991, Reubens pleaded no contest to an indecent exposure charge after he was arrested for allegedly exposing himself in an adult cinema in Sarasota, Florida.

After that plea, Reubens's Pee-wee Herman series of shows and films - aimed at children - came to an end.

However he has had supporting roles in a number of films since then, including Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Blow.

Besides his role as an uptight school principal Ferris Bueller's Day Off, Jones has appeared in dozens of films, including Amadeus, Ed Wood and Beetlejuice.