Finnigan resigned as a minister and as a member of the South Australian Executive Council on 21 April 2011. The night before his party resignation, Finnigan was arrested and charged with four child pornography offences. Rann requested that Finnigan be suspended from the party while his case was before the courts, with the suspension endorsed by the party's state executive on 3 May 2011. As the alleged offences were considered a sex crime, South Australian law prohibited publication of his name in connection with the charges until he had entered a plea. He was committed for trial pleading not guilty.