Court records and official announcements from the Sacramento County Court

Pulitzer Winner Darrin Bell Arrested in Sacramento for Possession of AI-Generated Child Pornography

Jan 16, 2025, 04:00 PM

Darrin Bell, a 49-year-old Pulitzer Prize-winning cartoonist known for his work with The Washington Post, has been arrested in Sacramento County, California, on charges of possessing child pornography. The arrest followed an investigation by the Sacramento Valley Internet Crimes Against Children Detectives, which was initiated after a tip from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children regarding the uploading of child sexual abuse material (CSAM). Authorities discovered 134 videos of CSAM linked to an account owned and controlled by Bell, including some that were AI-generated. This marks the first arrest in Sacramento involving AI-generated CSAM since it became a criminal offense in California on January 1, 2025. Bell, the first African-American to win the Pulitzer Prize for editorial cartooning and a married father of four, is being held on $1 million bail and is scheduled to appear in court on January 17, 2025.