A few years into his YouTube singing career, before his popularity peaked, some of Austin Jones' young fans began to accuse him of strange things.
Teen girls would message him on Facebook or Twitter, hoping for a brush with a minor mop-headed star, and be thrilled when Jones wrote back. But then - some girls alleged - the 20-something singer would ask them to dance for him.
Jones admitted to some of the accusations in 2015. "I shouldn't have done it," he said in an apology video. But: "Nothing ever went further than twerking videos. There were never any nudes."
His career got past that scandal, and his fan base grew exponentially. He amassed half a million YouTube subscribers and had just flown home from an international tour on Monday when federal agents arrested him in Chicago and accused him of manipulating two 14-year-old girls into making videos for him - not twerking this time, but pornography.
A federal affidavit describes online conversations remarkably similar to those described by his accusers in 2015: Jones chatted up young fans on social media, a Homeland Security investigator wrote, then took them into private chats where he essentially directed his own porn videos.
The first victim met him on Facebook in August - a few weeks after Jones released a video of himself singing "Welcome to the Black Parade" a cappella, seen by more than 5 million people.
"Wait ... you're 14?" Jones wrote to the girl, according to the affidavit.
"Yea I'm a youngster."
"Do you realize how lucky you are?!?! I seriously shouldn't even be talking to you..."
Jones was 23 at the time. The girl told him she was his biggest fan, according to the complaint.
The star allegedly asked her to "prove it" with a video. He told her to smile at the camera, the investigator wrote - to bounce around, and say repeatedly: "I'm only 14."
She would send short videos when she was done, then start on another. As the shoot progressed, the complaint states, Jones enticed the girl to remove more and more clothing.
When it was over, according to the complaint, the girl had made 25 videos, in several of which she was nude from the waist down.
"How special do you feel!?!" Jones allegedly wrote.
When the singer persuaded another 14-year-old to make videos for him last month, authorities claim, he referred to them as a "tryout." The girl considered herself to be auditioning.
But she was judged not on talent, according to the complaint, but on how much sexual gratification Jones derived from the videos she made, according to the complaint. When they weren't good enough, the singer allegedly demanded she keep recording more explicit versions through the night - even after the girl complained "I might pass out."
After she'd sent him enough, the complaint states, Jones told the girl to delete them from her phone so her sister wouldn't see them.
About two weeks later, in mid-May, Facebook shut down Jones' account, and Homeland Security began collecting digital evidence linking him to the chat logs.
But if he was aware of the investigation, the Chicago-area singer showed no sign of it on his other accounts. This month he posted photos from his tour of Europe: rooms packed with young fans.
"About to go on stage, but hi I miss you," he tweeted to no one in particular on Sunday.
Then, Monday, agents stopped him at Chicago's O'Hare International Airport and arrested him on two counts of producing child pornography - one for each teen listed in the complaint, with each charge punishable by up to 30 years in prison.
Under interrogation, Jones confessed to cajoling explicit videos from "a number" of girls, according to Homeland Security. He appeared before a federal judge in an orange jumpsuit on Tuesday, according to the Chicago Tribune, silent and "staring at the floor as prosecutors read aloud the charges and possible penalties".
Jones was being held in jail until his next hearing, set for Wednesday, according to the Tribune. It's unclear if he has an attorney or agent.
If the hundreds of angry comments now flooding his YouTube page are any indication, the singer's popularity is cratering under the new scandal, whether or not he is convicted.
- The Washington Post