YouTube star to be sentenced in Chicago in child porn case

CHICAGO — A former YouTube star with a large teenage following is scheduled to be sentenced in Chicago federal court for coercing six girls to send him sexually explicit videos.

Prosecutors are seeking an 11-year prison sentence for Austin Jones on Friday. The defence wants the minimum available five years.

The Chicago Tribune cites a government sentencing memorandum as saying the 26-year-old musician manipulated fans and “preyed on their youth … and … adoration of him.” The filing included excerpts from his online conversations with the girls, ages 14 and 15.

Jones, of Bloomingdale, Illinois, was arrested in 2017. He pleaded guilty in February to child pornography.

A defence filing asks for leniency, saying Jones’ life was “marred with abuse, pain, loss and death.” It says he suffered sexual abuse as a child.

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The Associated Press