CALIMESA - A former councilman who admitted an addiction to child pornography last year before being jailed has been rearrested on suspicion of probation violation after using the Internet to arrange a hotel meeting with a man.

Jon Winningham, who served 12 years on the council, was arrested Sept. 22 on suspicion of violating probation and booked into Robert Presley Detention Center in Riverside.

He posted a $5,000 bail and was released, according to jail records.

Winningham, 52, could not be reached for comment Wednesday.

When he pleaded guilty in January 2007 to 10 felony counts of intent to distribute child pornography and three misdemeanor counts of possession of child pornography, Winningham was put on five years probation.

"It's alleged that he has violated his probation because he was using his computer to look for someone who wants to be involved with him," said Riverside County Chief Probation Officer Alan Crogan, adding that Winningham's probation included "no use of a computer for any use that would be to access children or pornography or anything of a sexual nature."

A judge ruled in January 2007 that Winningham could keep a computer in his home for his wife and two children to use, but ordered Winningham not to use it himself.

It's unclear how long the former councilman was chatting online with a decoy from the Riverside County Sexual Assault and Felony Enforcement Team, which is comprised of probation, police, sheriff's and district attorney's officials.

"He chatted long enough to make arrangements to meet (the decoy) at a hotel in the city of Banning," said Ron Garcia, SAFE team director and district attorney supervising investigator. "His crime was that he was chatting online, which he's not supposed to do."

A hearing where a judge will decide whether Winningham violated his probation is scheduled for Wednesday in Riverside Superior Court.

If convicted of the new charge, Winningham could face prison time.

Prosecutor John Henry said in 2007 that Winningham should be sentenced to up to nine years in state prison.

Instead, he was ordered to serve 360 days at a Riverside jail. Winningham, who spent his jail time in a hospital bed rather than behind bars, served about eight months.

Winningham is considered a level 1 high-profile sex offender, meaning he gets regular supervision, Crogan said.

He was first arrested in October 2005 after two men handed police a disc with graphic images of children they said came from Winningham's home computer.

Investigators arrested him a second time in February 2006 after forensic specialists found 1,126 pornographic images of children on his home computer, city-owned laptop and other media.

At that time, Calimesa resident Toni DiNovo started a petition asking Winningham to voluntarily step down from his seat on the council.

Winningham refused, serving until the end of his term in December 2006. He is barred from running for public office again.

When DiNovo heard this week about Winningham's new arrest, she was appalled.

"He didn't learn his lesson, did he?" she asked. "I think it is a disgrace. To allow that man to have served such a short sentence, and then he turned around and is starting to do the same thing all over again."

Winningham admitted in last year's probation report that he was addicted to pornography.

A former teacher at a Santa Ana school, Winningham lost his teaching credentials in 2000 after hundreds of sexually explicit photographs of adults were found on his work computer.

His credentials were suspended because the images were viewed during work hours, officials said.

In a prepared statement Winningham asked his attorney to read when he was sentenced in January 2007, he apologized for the pain he caused his family, friends and the community.

"I hope to come out of this a better person and once again be a productive member of society," Winningham wrote.

The former councilman's attorney did not return a call for comment Wednesday.