A former political science major at UC Berkeley, Darrin Bell’s leftist cartoons are highly focused on immigration, xenophobia, LGBTQ issues, degrading gun rights, and insulting Republicans
The investigation that led to Bell’s arrest started after an individual uploaded 18 files containing child sexual abuse material to an online service.
Darrin Bell, a Pulitzer Prize-winning cartoonist whose woke political comics are seen in the Washington Post and other newspapers across the United States, has been arrested for possessing child pornography, law enforcement in California has confirmed.
Bell’s alleged activities came to the attention of Internet Crimes Against Children (ICAC) investigators after they were contacted by officials at the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, which tracks CSAM being shared online. ICAC is a national network of 61 coordinated task forces, representing over 5,400 federal, state, and local law enforcement agencies.
According to Sgt. Amar Gandhi, of the Sacramento County Sheriff’s Office, the investigation started after an individual uploaded as many as 18 files containing child sexual abuse material (CSAM) to an online service. After further probe, it was revealed a that total of 134 videos containing CSAM had been recovered.
On Wednesday, January 15, a search warrant was executed at Darrin Bell’s home after authorities learned that he owned and controlled the account in question. Bell was subsequently taken into custody and booked into the Sacramento County Main Jail for CSAM possession.
Darrin Bell is being held on $1 million bail. The 49-year-old is set to appear in court on Friday, January 17.
