YouTube Star Austin Jones Arrested on Two Counts of Producing Child Pornography

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YouTube star Austin Jones has been arrested on child pornography charges.

The 24-year-old internet celebrity and musician, who gained fame for his popular a cappella covers of hit songs, was arrested for allegedly enticing two underage girls to record and send him pornographic videos of themselves, the U.S. Attorney's Office said in a statement released to ET on Tuesday.

Jones, who is charged with two counts of producing child pornography, was arrested on Monday at O'Hare International Airport in Chicago, Illinois, and made his first court appearance Tuesday afternoon. Judge Michael T. Mason ordered Jones to remain in federal custody until his bond hearing, which is scheduled for Wednesday.


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According to the criminal complaint filed by Joel Levin, United States Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois, Jones is accused of first chatting with the underage girls on Facebook. Jones allegedly spoke to one girl in August 2016, and the other last month.

The criminal complaint claims that the girls told Jones that they were fans of his YouTube videos, and Jones allegedly told them to "prove" they were his fans by producing sexually explicit videos and sending them to him.

The complaint alleges that one of the underage girls sent Jones 15 videos, including 10 in which she exposed herself, while the other girl sent him 25 videos, eight of which included explicit content, the Chicago Sun-Times reports. The victims in question were allegedly both 14 years old.


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Each count of child pornography is punishable by a minimum sentence of 15 years in prison.

Jones, who lives in Bloomingdale, Illinois, has more than 500,000 subscribers on his YouTube channel and was reportedly on an international tour promoting his music and videos when he was arrested.


Additional reporting by Brendon Geoffrion.


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