Pulitzer Prize-winning cartoonist Darrin Bell was arrested in California on charges of possessing child pornography, some of which was allegedly AI-generated. Police discovered over 100 videos related to child sex abuse connected to an account owned by Bell. This is the first arrest by the Sacramento Valley's Internet Crimes Against Children unit related to possession of AI-generated content since a new California law criminalized it.
By Herb Scribner, The Washington PostPulitzer Prize-winning cartoonist Darrin Bell, creator of the syndicated comic strip"Candorville," is photographed in his Sacramento office in February 2024.
According to the Sacramento County sheriff’s office, detectives from the Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force Program previously received a tip from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children about someone who had uploaded 18 files containing child sex abuse material, or child pornography. After an investigation into the tip, the detectives discovered 134 videos of that material uploaded by an account owned and controlled by Bell.
One of Bell’s more notable works is “Candorville,” a daily comic strip that features young Black and Latino characters living in a city. Collections of the nationally syndicated comic strip, which often offers social and political commentary, have been published as books. He also cocreated “Rudy Park,” a syndicated comic strip no longer in production that focused on current events.
“While we are aware that the American system of justice presumes innocence until proven guilty, we feel it necessary to suspend Mr. Bell from future contributions to Counterpoint until more is known about the charges,” the media group said in a statement.
CHILD PORNOGRAPHY ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE CARTOONIST DARRIN BELL LAW
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