Singer with teen following online faces child porn charges
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CHICAGO — A 24-year-old suburban Chicago singer with millions of teenage followers online faces child pornography charges for allegedly instructing two young female fans via social media to make sexually explicit videos of themselves and send them to him, according to a federal complaint released Tuesday.
Austin Jones of Bloomingdale appeared in U.S. District Court in Chicago wearing orange jail clothes and ankle chains. Asked by U.S. Magistrate Judge Michael Mason if he understood he’s charged with two counts of production of child pornography, he answered quietly, “Yes, your honour.”
The fans are referred to in the complaint as “Victim A” and “Victim B,” and they were around 14 years old when Jones allegedly encouraged them to make the videos by — in one instance — telling one he wanted her to prove what she said about being his “biggest fan,” the complaint said.
Some of Jones’ music videos have garnered millions of views on YouTube and he’s parlayed his online popularity into tours, most recently to parts of Europe. He does original music and also covers the work of Justin Bieber and others. He has 228,000 Twitter followers and his “primary fan base appears to be teenage girls,” the complaint said.
