A former Washington Post cartoonist has been arrested on suspicion of making child porn including material produced using AI.
Darrin Bell, 49, is accused of uploading 134 videos of sexual abuse of children.
Bell is best known as the Pulitzer-prize winning cartoonist behind comic strips ‘Rudy Park’ and ‘Candorville.’
He was arrested Wednesday morning at his Sacramento home following a tip from the the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children.
The tip accused Bell of uploading 18 files containing child abuse.
However an investigation by the Sacramento Valley Internet Crimes Against Children unit discovered the disgusting tranche of material, the sheriff’s office said.
‘A total of 134 videos of child sexual abuse material were located and linked to the same account, owned and controlled by 49-year-old Darrin Bell,’ a statement said.
‘Detectives recovered evidence related to the case, as well as computer-generated/AI child sexual abuse material.’
Former Washington Post cartoonist Darrin Bell has been arrested on suspicion of making child porn including material produced using AI
Bell was booked into the Sacramento County Main Jail with bail of $1 million and is scheduled to appear in court on Friday.
The case is the first arrest by Sacramento Valley ICAC where a suspect was charged with creating computer-generated child pornography.
The law was amended on January 1, 2025 to include AI-generated material as a criminal offense.
Bell is an acclaimed illustrator who won the Pulitzer prize for editorial cartoon in 2019.
The committee praised him for, ‘beautiful and daring editorial cartoons that took on issues affecting disenfranchised communities, calling out lies, hypocrisy and fraud in the political turmoil surrounding the Trump administration’.
‘I want [readers] to take away that we need to be more respectful of human dignity,’ Bell told ABC shortly after receiving the award.
The illustrator worked for the Washington Post from 2003 to 2023, according to his LinkedIn.
He is currently listed as a syndicated cartoonist with King Features which is owned by media giant Hearst.
Bell, 49, is accused of uploading 134 videos of sexual abuse of children some of which were generated using AI
Bell was arrested Wednesday morning at his Sacramento home following a tip from the the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children
In a post four days ago, Bell wrote that his latest cartoon was on the Republican response to the devastating California wildfires.
DailyMail.com has contacted the Washington Post and Hearst for comment.
