A Zimbabwean immigration official says former U.S. Rep. Melvin Jay Reynolds has been arrested in the African country.

The official, Ario Mabika, told The Associated Press Tuesday that Reynolds is being investigated.

The state-controlled The Herald newspaper reported Tuesday that Reynolds was arrested for allegedly possessing pornographic material and violating immigration laws.

Reynolds, an Illinois Democrat, resigned from his congressional seat in 1995 after he was convicted of 12 counts of statutory rape, obstruction of justice and solicitation of child pornography.

The Herald said Reynolds was arrested Monday by police detectives and immigration officials at a Harare hotel.

A spokeswoman for the U.S. Embassy, Karen Kelley, said the embassy could not comment as it was a private matter and the embassy did not did not have a privacy waiver.