Pulitzer Prize-winning cartoonist Darrin Bell was charged with possession of child pornography, including some videos generated by AI, the Sacramento County Sheriff’s Office announced.  The arrest was made as the result of a tip from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, which eventually led to the discover of 134 videos of child sexual abuse linked to an account controlled by Bell, the release said.

A search warrant was executed and evidence collected, including AI-generated materials, Bell was booked and held on $1 million bail.  Child pornography generated by artificial intelligence became illegal under a new state law that took effect January 1.

Bell won the Pulitzer Prize in 2019 for his editorial cartoons; his graphic novel The Talk also received a number of honors.  It was nominated for an Eisner Award for Best Graphic Memoir last year (see “2024 Eisner Nominees”); made the 2024 Andrew Carnegie Medals for Excellence in Fiction and Nonfiction long list (see “Graphic Novels on Awards Circuit”); and was on the top 20 Graphic Novels for Teens list from the American Library Association (see “ALA Top Ten Lists”).