YouTube celebrity Austin Jones, 24, was arrested on Monday night and charged with two counts of producing child pornography, according to NBC Chicago.
Jones, who boasts more than 500,000 subscribers on YouTube, has a very young and impressionable fanbase. Police have claimed he used his star status to “entice” two underage fans to film themselves in sexually explicit videos, the Chicago Tribune has reported. His alleged victims were only 14 and 15-years-old.
Jones is accused of pressuring the teenagers to create dozens of photos and videos in which they engaged in sexual acts, according to the criminal complaint.
The complaint details a conversation between Jones and one of the victims, in which he tells her to “make it clap super loud and talk about your age the whole time.”
He allegedly instructed another victim to remove her underwear. When she hesitated, he reportedly relied on his YouTube fame.
“I’m just trying to help you!” he wrote, according to the complaint. “I know you’re trying your hardest to prove you’re my biggest fan. And I don’t want to have to find someone else.”
One victim has stated that she sent Jones over 25 videos, each of them explicit.
“I bet you had NO IDEA when you met me that just one day later you’d get to show me your ******* how special do you feel?!” Jones asked the girl, according to the complaint.
This isn’t the first time that the 24-year-old has found himself in a dodgy situation with underage fans. In 2015, he was accused of repeatedly asking girls, some as young as 13, to perform a suggestive dance for him on video. He later apologized.
@deefizzy he didn't even seem bothered by my age he just laughed pic.twitter.com/LpLgXguxo7
— brianna lynn (@heckinghenrik) May 10, 2015
The US Attorney’s office has announced that the YouTube celebrity was taken into custody at Chicago’s O’Hare International Airport. A judge has denied bail until Wednesday’s detention hearing.
If convicted, each count carries a mandatory minimum sentence of 15 years behind bars.
[Featured Image: YouTube]
