JEFFERSON COUNTY — A 36-year-old Mt. Vernon man pleaded not guilty Wednesday in Jefferson County Court to multiple child pornography charges.

James E. Hembree remains in the Jefferson County Jail with bail set at $250,000. He’s charged with five Class X felony counts of possessing child pornography depicting a victim under the age of 13 and Class 3 felony possession of less than 5 grams of methamphetamine.

According to Jefferson County Sheriff Jeff Bullard, his office received a tip as part of their membership in Homeland Security’s Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force.

After a search warrant for records enabled detectives to narrow down their list of suspects, a second search warrant was issued for a residence in the 300 block of Herbert in Mt. Vernon.

Detectives had been made aware Hembree could also have drug involvement, so narcotics detectives participated in the search of the home where they also reportedly recovered methamphetamine.

The case is now scheduled for an August 16 pretrial hearing.