Austin Jones, the former YouTube musician convicted of coercing six underage fans to send him sexually explicit videos, has been sentenced to 10 years behind bars.
Jones was sentenced on Friday, reports The Chicago Tribune, while two victims, their parents, and the mother of a third victim sat in the front row of the courtroom. One of the victims addressed the judge during the three-hour hearing, saying that Jones “would use my dreams and my fandom to manipulate me.” Assistant U.S. attorney Katherine Neff Welsh sought an 11-year sentence, noting that Jones’ actions would have a lasting psychological impact on the victims.
Nevertheless, Jones’ 10 year sentence is double the mandatory minimum term (5 years) — which is what Jones’ lawyers had requested. In their argument, they noted that Jones himself was a victim of abuse at the hands of his now-deceased father, who molested him as a child. Jones’ lawyer said that “the damage [Jones’ father] did to his son had just radiated throughout this entire case.”
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While judge John Lee apologized to Jones for the trauma he suffered, per the Tribune, he also said that given Jones’ history, he should have known the pain that he was passing on to others.
Jones also addressed the court, saying that he has written songs over the past two years to help him cope with the trauma caused by his actions. “To the victims of my actions, I want to say I’m so deeply sorry,” he said. “All you ever did was support me, and I exploited that support. I was so selfish.”
Jones was first arrested in June 2017, and then pleaded guilty in February. Initially, YouTube opted not to delete Jones’ page after his plea, though the video giant ultimately reversed course.
