News Photo by Julie Riddle As defense attorney Alan Curtis listens to comments from the prosecution, defendant Scott Henning watches from the Alpena County Jail during a hearing in Alpena’s 26th Circuit Court on Monday.

ALPENA — Child pornography charges against a Hubbard Lake man should have been dropped because there was no direct link between him and the images on the computer on which the images were found, his attorney said in Alpena’s 26th Circuit Court on Monday.

Judge Ed Black gave Alpena County Prosecutor Cynthia Muszynski two weeks to respond to a motion by defense attorney Alan Curtis alleging that Scott Henning, 29, should never have been sent to circuit court on child porn charges.

The prosecution didn’t provide proof that Henning put photos on the computer during a January preliminary examination in Alpena’s 88th District Court, Curtis claimed. Preliminary exams are used to determine if there’s enough evidence for a case to proceed to trial.

Henning has been incarcerated in the Alpena County Jail since August, when police said they found an apparent hallucinogenic mushroom lab in his bedroom during a raid by the Huron Undercover Narcotics Team.

He was later charged with possession of child porn after more than 100 sexually exploitative images of prepubescent and teenage children were found on a computer seized from the home during the raid.

According to Curtis, the prosecution offered no proof that Henning was in the home — in which he had only been living a short time — at the time any of the photos were downloaded.

The computer, purchased as a refurbished device with at least one previous owner, was in a public part of the house and accessible to other members of the household and visitors, according to exam testimony.

Acknowledging Curtis’s arguments were compelling, Black told Muszynski she had two weeks to offer a written response why the child porn case should continue.

“To be frank, I don’t see that there’s a whole lot Ms. Muszynski is going to be able to dispute,” Curtis told Black.

Addressing a separate motion by the prosecution, Black said the drug and child porn charges against Henning cannot be joined into one case if Henning goes to trial because there is no evident direct link between the drug lab and the child pornography.

Muszynski argued that the cases are linked because, in her experience working with sexual assault survivors, child pornography and drugs like those found in Henning’s possession are often the precursors of sexual assault.

Black called that argument speculative but said Muszynski could offer further written comment showing a connection between the cases.

Henning is a former custodian at Alpena Public Schools. He will next appear in court on April 19.