YouTube sensation Austin Jones will remain free on bond and will attend twice-weekly therapy sessions until he reports to federal prison next month to start a 10-year sentence on child pornography charges.
Federal prosecutors had asked District Judge John Z. Lee to order Jones directly into custody following his sentencing hearing last week. Jones last week moved to a two-bedroom apartment in Itasca that he shares with his mother, his lawyer said. Jones, 26, has been attending therapy sessions twice weekly in anticipation of his departure for prison.
Lee set a June 28 date for Jones to report to prison. The singer’s lawyers requested that Jones be assigned to the low-security prison in Milan, Mich., about five hours east of Chicago.
Jones pleaded guilty to soliciting six girls, each 14 or 15 years old, to send him lewd pictures over social media, often holding out the promise of featuring them as models for his clothing line. Before his arrest in 2017, Jones had millions of online fans of his music, mostly a cappella versions of hit songs that he uploaded to his YouTube channel.
