Author and comics writer Gerard Jones, perhaps best known for his acclaimed 2004 book Men of Tomorrow, plans to plead guilty to charges of possessing and distributing child pornography.
Jones was arrested on Dec. 29, 2016, after a police investigation and search of his San Francisco home allegedly uncovered electronic devices storing more than 600 images and videos depicting child pornography.
Authorities also claim that Jones uploaded videos to YouTube depicting a child performing sexual acts on an adult, while a video allegedly found in his home was said to show children as young as 1 year old. Jones initially pleaded not guilty in early 2017 and was released on a $250,000 bond, with a home monitored curfew from 6 p.m. to 7 a.m.
According to Bleeding Cool, Jones’ legal team agreed to a stipulation on March 18, noting that the trial would be vacated due to a change of plea. His change of plea hearing was scheduled for Monday.
However, a motion for mandatory remand following the plea filed by the prosecution notes that Jones will now plead guilty to two felony counts of possession and distribution of child pornography. Jones’ attorney filed an opposition to the motion.
In their filing, the prosecution referenced the evidence gathered in the case is “extensive and horrific”: “The image that the defendant uploaded to YouTube, for instance, showed a prepubescent minor victim being repeatedly sodomized by two adults.”
Jones had asked a number of comic book creators that he had worked with over his decades in the comic book industry to write character witness supports. One of them, James Hudnall, noted on Bleeding Cool, “I wrote that letter because, while I have never been a close friend of his, I have known and worked with Gerry for 30 years. We worked together at Viz and Malibu. He has never seemed weird or into kids to me.So that’s what I said, basically. It’s a real shame because he always seemed like a decent guy who loved comics. A real shame.”
Jones worked in comics for more than a decade, with long runs on Green Lantern and Justice League, plus co-creating El Diablo at DC Comics and Prime for the Ultraverse. In recent years, he had become best known for his nonfiction books, like his Eisner Award-winning book on comics history, Men of Tomorrow: Geeks, Gangsters, and the Birth of the Comic Book, and on violent entertainment, Killing Monsters: Why Children Need Fantasy, Super Heroes, and Make-Believe Violence.