Tag Archives: Yahoo

Austin Jones, a long-time YouTube star who preyed upon his enormous teenage following by coercing young girls to send him sexually explicit videos, was sentenced in a Chicago federal court yesterday to 10 years in prison. The 26-year old was arrested in 2017 two counts of production of child pornography. He later confessed to enticing six underage girls to send him X-Rated videos of themselves, according to a plea agreement made available to the public last February. The girls were as young as 14 years old. Jones amassed his large following mostly by singing a cappella covers of famous songs. Prosecutors pushed for an 11-year prison sentence on Friday, although he faced a maximum of 20 years. The lawyers who argued in court against the star said Jones “preyed on their youth, their vulnerabilities and most glaringly, their adoration of him,” per the Associated Press. A defense filing contended Jones’ life was “marred with abuse, pain, loss and death,” asserting he suffered sexual abuse as a child and trying to use that incident as a defense for his actions. Alas, this argument did not hold much weight with the judge. “Production and receipt of child pornography are extraordinarily serious offenses that threaten the safety of our children and communities,” Assistant U.S. Attorney Katherine Neff Welsh said in the government’s sentencing memorandum, adding: “Jones’ actions took something from his victims and their families that they will never be able to get back.” According to the Department of Justice, Jones would tell young girls to submit nude videos of themselves as a way to “prove” their fandom. He also promised these young girls modeling opportunities and a chance to grow their own social media following. In June of 2015, before he was even arrester, Jones shared a 16-minute YouTube video in which he looked directly into the camera and admitted that he used to ask fans to send him twerking videos. But that’s where he drew the line, Jones said. “Nothing ever went further than twerking videos,” he said back then. “There were never any nudes, never any physical contact.” Jones had more than than 534,000 YouTube subscribers and over 41 million total video views at the time of his arrest. In one exchange documented by the government, Jones acknowledged he shouldn’t be talking to a 14-year-old due to her age. He repeatedly told her, though, that she was “so lucky” she had his attention, continuing: “If you’re lucky, maybe I’d let you suck my dick.” When the teenager said she didn’t want either of them to get in trouble over the footage she was recording, he replied: “I guess you really aren’t my biggest fan …..ok then.” In addition to giving the girls suggestions for poses and underwear choices, Jones often gave them “lines” to recite to him. One example? “At the beginning, get super close and say these lines: hey Austin, it’s (name) and this butt is (age) years old and then make it clap for 30 seconds. Got it?”  It doesn’t get too much more disgusting than everything chronicled here.

The rest is here:
Austin Jones Sentenced to 10 Years in Jail on Child Pornography Charges