Famed cartoonist with Bay Area ties arrested on child porn charges
Jan 16, 2025
A Pulitzer Prize-winning cartoonist with Bay Area ties has been arrested in Sacramento County on suspicion of child pornography.
Darrin Bell, 49, a famed cartoonist who got his start at UC Berkeley, was arrested Wednesday and booked into the Sacramento County jail on possession of child porn, according to Internet Crimes Against Children detectives who were tipped off by the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children.
In a search of Bell’s home, investigators found 134 videos of child pornography linked to an account owned and controlled by Bell as well as computer generated/artificial intelligence child pornography, authorities said.
Cartoonist Darrin Bell.
Bell once drew cartoons for the Daily Californian and contributed to the San Francisco Chronicle as well as other local outlets. In 2019, he was awarded a Pulitzer Prize for editorial cartooning and became the first African American man to receive the honor.
Bell has said the goal of his work is for people to be more respectful of human dignity.
The arrest is the first by Sacramento Valley ICAC in which possession of computer generated/AI child pornography was charged against the suspect. A change in the law took effect with the new year making AI-generated child pornography a criminal offense.
Bell is being held on $1 million bail and is scheduled to appear in court Friday.