A San Francisco author known for his work in comic books and non-fiction cultural criticism was arrested, police announced late Friday, after he allegedly uploaded "graphic child pornography to YouTube."
In a news release sent Friday, the San Francisco Police Department says that 59-year-old Mission Bay resident Gerard Jones was arrested at an area coffee shop on December 29 following an investigation by their Internet Crimes Against Children unit.
According to the SFPD, they were alerted in September to a video that "involved a prepubescent child performing sexual acts on an adult" that was uploaded to YouTube, "they were able to identify the source of the child pornography as being uploaded from a residence on the 600 block of Long Bridge Street," which is near Fourth Street in Mission Bay.
On December 29, "investigators executed a search warrant at the residence," police say, and "located numerous media devices allegedly belonging to Jones, all of which contained hundreds of child pornography videos and images depicting prepubescent juvenile minors engaged in sexual acts."
Some of the videos, police say, depicted "children as young as one (1) years old having sexual acts performed on them by adults."
Police also say that investigators also uncovered evidence that Jones "allegedly travelled to London, England several years prior to engage in sexual contact with an underage minor."
Following the search, "Investigators tracked Jones to a coffee shop several blocks away, where he was detained," according to the SFPD. He was booked into San Francisco County Jail for possession of child pornography, possession of over 600 files of child pornography, production of child pornography, sending harmful material to a minor, and distribution of child pornography. "The investigation into his contact with the underage minor in England is on-going," police say.
As noted by the Chron, Jones is a well-known author of comic books and books on pop culture. According to his Wikipedia page, "from 1987 to 2001, Jones wrote comic books for Marvel Comics, DC Comics, Dark Horse Comics, Viz Media, Malibu Comics and other publishers," including such series as Green Lantern, Justice League, Prime, Ultraforce, El Diablo, Wonder Man, Martian Manhunter, Elongated Man, The Shadow, Pokémon Adventures, Dragon Ball, and Batman." On his IMBD page, Jones is listed as appearing in numerous pop culture documentaries on comic books and comedy. He's also written multiple books on the topic, including 2005's Men of Tomorrow: Geeks, Gangsters, and the Birth of the Comic Book and Killing Monsters: Why Children Need Fantasy, Superheroes and Make-Believe Violence in 2003.
According to the Chron, Jones has also "written screenplays for Warner Bros. and 20th Century Fox" and " served as a writing teacher for the San Francisco Writer’s Grotto."
Jones was arraigned Thursday, and entered a plea of not guilty, according to the San Francsico District Attorney's Office. Jones denies all the charges, his lawyer told the Chron, and has no prior record of wrongdoing.
“It’s important to differentiate between violent sex offenders (and) these kinds of cases, because there’s a big difference...We tend to lump them all together," Jones' attorney said.
According to a spokesperson with the San Francisco Sheriff's Department, Jones has been released on bail. Meanwhile, the SFPD asks anyone who "may have been a victim or have had any suspicious contact" with Jones to contact their Special Victims Unit at 415- 558-5500.
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