Crime & Safety
Ex-YouTube Star Gets 10 Years For Child Porn Charges: Report
Bloomingdale native Austin Jones pleaded guilty to convincing underage girls to send him sexual images.
BLOOMINGDALE, IL -- Former YouTube sensation Austin Jones, 26, of Bloomingdale, has been sentenced to 10 years in prison after pleading guilt to coercing underage girls to send him sexual images of themselves online. A judge handed down the sentence Friday in federal court after hearing testimony from two of Jones's victims, who said they dealt with suicidal thoughts and self-harm in the wake of the repeated incidents, WGN reports.
Jones had been accused of using his YouTube stardom to convince girls to send him images and videos of themselves touching themselves and dancing in a sexual manner. The victims were 14 and 15 years old at the time, authorities said.
Prosecutors said that one girl sent videos of herself naked from the waist down, repeating the phrase, "I'm 14 years old." According to WGN, Jones was "obsessed with making the girls talk about their ages in the videos."
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Jones reportedly apologized during the sentencing hearing, saying her was planning to seek treatment.
After serving his 10-year sentence, Jones will be on mandatory supervised release for eight years.
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