A suburban Chicago singer with hundreds of thousands of teenage online followers faces child pornography charges for allegedly instructing two young female fans to send him sexually explicit videos of themselves.
Twenty-four-year-old Austin Jones of Bloomingdale, Ill., appeared Tuesday in a Chicago federal court wearing orange jail clothes and ankle chains. He said he understood the charges. Each of the two counts of production of child pornography carries a minimum 15-year prison sentence.
The fans were around 14 years old.
Jones’ music videos have garnered millions of YouTube views. He has released original music and covered the work of Justin Bieber and others.
Jones was arrested Monday. A bond hearing was set for Wednesday. Prosecutors say they will oppose his release.
Jones didn’t have his own lawyer Tuesday. He will enter a plea later.
