AUBURN — The owners of Lewiston Auburn Magazine announced Friday that they have fired publisher and president Joshua Shea who was charged Thursday with possession of child pornography.

“LA Publishing is deeply troubled and disturbed by the arrest of Joshua Shea,” according to a posting on the magazine’s Facebook page. “As of the afternoon of March 20, he has been fired from his position as publisher and president of the company. The board of directors, in conjunction with the shareholders, will be evaluating the current standing of the company. We appreciate your patience.”

Efforts to reach members of the magazine’s board were unsuccessful Friday.

Shea also serves as director of the Lewiston Auburn Film Festival. The event is scheduled to begin April 3, but its fate remained in question Friday following Shea’s arrest.

Shea, 38, was released from the Androscoggin County Jail on Thursday on $500 bail on the condition that he have no contact with anyone under the age of 18. Detectives seized Shea’s computer for analysis at the computer crimes unit. The Maine Department of Public Safety said initial inspection of the computer showed hundreds of images of child pornography.

“At this point, the computer crimes unit will be analyzing that computer thoroughly and consulting with the district attorney’s office on whether the one charge will remain or whether additional counts will be added, and this likely would go to the grand jury here at some time in the near future,” department spokesman Stephen McCausland said.

Meanwhile, the filmmakers and venue operators of the four-day festival awaited word of its fate.

Massachusetts filmmaker T. Michael Haggerty said he was working as technical director for the 2014 film festival and he’s been in contact with a group of festival organizers since getting news of Shea’s arrest.

“There are folks who are more financially involved than I am and they are making that determination,” Haggerty said.

He had heard nothing definitive about the fate of the film festival, but he will proceed as if it’s going ahead as planned, he said.

“It’s not my decision to make, but I have reached out to filmmakers to assure them that, at the very least, we are proceeding forward as if it’s happening,” he said. “I don’t want to be unprepared or put the brakes on something. It’s not my decision to make.”

Filmmaker Corey Norman of South Portland said he had received more than 100 emails from cast and crew members asking for information.

“I don’t know what to tell them,” said Norman, who was trying to be optimistic about the planned premiere of his movie, “The Hanover House.” Prior to Shea’s arrest, he turned down chances to show it at other festivals.

“I would like to see the festival continue,” Norman said. “We’d like to make sure that people get to see the movies they paid to see.”

Leaders at a pair of the festival’s venues — the Franco Center and the Lewiston Public Library — said they didn’t know what would happen.

Richard Martin, the Franco Center’s program director, said Friday he had heard nothing from the festival, which is booked for the festival’s three days.

Lewiston Public Library Director Rick Speer said he too was in the dark. He said he hoped the festival would go forward.

“We’re ready and available,” Speer said. “We’re all ready to host them again.”