An assistant principal at Freedom High School in South Riding has been charged with possession of child pornography.

Fifty-nine-year-old Ting-Yi Oei of Reston has spent more than 29 years in area school systems. The Loudoun County Sheriff's office says he was taken into custody Wednesday at the school and taken before a magistrate before being released.

Oei's attorney, Steven D. Stone, calls the charges "outrageous." Stone says his client is being "persecuted" by the commonwealth's attorney.

Court documents show the grand jury returned the indictment against Oei on August 11. But Stone says neither he nor Oei were informed of the charges until sheriff's deputies went to the school on Wednesday.

But prosecutor Nicole Wittman said that Oei's attorneys had been told about the indictment and to be in court August 12 but that they didn't show up.