Darrin Bell Arrested on Suspicion of Child Pornography Charges

Comments ¹¹

1. Mike Lester

   Irony 101
   For years Mr. Bell and I both drew for COUNTERPOINT -a collection of the best editorial cartoonists working today. In July of 2023 I was fired bc I wouldn’t stop defending children from groomers by drawing cartoons pointing out “drag queen story hour” was a front to sexualize children using public spaces/libraries and schools as a cover. I even wrote that “it was a hill I would die on”. And I did.

   As far as I know Mr. Bell still works for COUNTERPOINT. -ML

   1. Joseph Nebus

      ‘Kay.

   2. D. D. Degg  (admin)

      I don’t see the follow-through from child porn to drag queens.
      Now if you would be foursquare against those child beauty pageants…

2. Clay Jones

   I knew there’d be right-wing asswipes trying to politicize this for their agenda.

   1. Fiona Webster

      Yeh, really annoying to draw a line from drag queens to child sexual abuse.

      I appreciated Darrin’s work, so this is a sad day.

3. Charles Brubaker

   Ugh, this is rough. I remember reading “Candorville” as a teen, and frequented at Darrin’s comic strip message board back in the day.

   And it never occurred to me that AI could be used for THIS, but, of course….

4. Gary McCoy

   Good to see Clay Jones come out and take a stand against those who take a stand against child predators.

5. Nick Anderson

   Mike Lester, that’s not true, and you know it. You were fired due to years of toxic behavior toward Counterpoint management and your Counterpoint colleagues. Given that Counterpoint cartoonists work closely together — despite profound political differences — your habitual attacks on your colleagues were a serious problem. Even many of your conservative colleagues complained to me about you.

   But as problematic as your colleagues found you, many of us still expressed sympathy and support for you when you told us one day on Slack that your wife had been in a car accident the night before. You accepted our expressions of support even though you left out some key details. It wasn’t until months later that we discovered that your wife killed someone else while driving drunk. You manipulated us and played on our sympathies.

   And given your own arrest for domestic violence and your own assertions that you were unfairly arrested, I would think you might be more circumspect about the arrest of a colleague, or at least wait until more is known.

   Counterpoint is a much more peaceful place without you. My only regret was tolerating your toxic behavior as long as I did.

6. Nick Anderson

   FWIW, this is the statement Counterpoint released. We’ve already had one media inquiry:

   We are dumbfounded by the news that Counterpoint newsletter contributor Darrin Bell has been arrested on charges of uploading AI-generated child sex abuse material. While we are aware that the American system of justice presumes innocence until proven guilty, we feel it necessary to suspend Mr. Bell from future contributions to Counterpoint until more is known about the charges.

   Counterpoint Licensing and Syndication also distributes the Rudy Park comic strip by Darrin Bell. As Mr. Bell is no longer producing new Rudy Park comics, the feature now consists of rerun strips. Counterpoint Media intends to consult with client publications to discuss the future of this daily feature.

7. Chak O

   Not all pedophiles are pederasts. Some of them suffer in silence, never acting on it.

   So is AI porn, of any kind, so bad? If it satisfies a pedophile, and harms no one, it seems more of a solution than a problem.

   I am aware that Bell had other CASM, I’m not referring to that particular instance, especially since, as Nick Anderson writes above. I will forswear judging him. But I think a discussion of AI porn and its implications just might be useful.

8. Wiley Miller

   The ones who are quickest to cite, “innocent until proven guilty”, when it fits their political agenda are the quickest to leap to conclusions and claim “guilty” when it’s on the other side of their political agenda. While “innocent until proven guilty” only applies to a court of law and not the court of public opinion, lets try waiting until facts come out.