eSports
ESPN.com 6y

Reports: Counter-Strike co-creator booked on suspicion of sexual exploitation of a child

esports

Counter-Strike co-creator Jess Cliffe was arrested Thursday and booked on suspicion of sexual exploitation of a child.

Cliffe, a Valve Corporation employee and game designer, was booked early Thursday morning in King County Jail. Valve provided comment late Thursday to Kotaku, a gaming website, regarding the arrest and said Cliffe has been suspended by the company.

"We are still learning details of what actually happened," Valve said in its statement to Kotaku. "Reports suggest he has been arrested for a felony offense. As such we have suspended his employment until we know more."

Sexual exploitation of children, according to Washington state legislature, can include elements of commercial sexual abuse of a minor or "depictions of minors engaged in sexually explicit content," such as creation, distribution or possession of depictions of child pornography. 

Police told KIRO 7 News in Seattle that Cliffe will have a bail hearing Friday afternoon. The game designer has no criminal history, though he was arrested in Seattle in an eventually dismissed 2013 assault case.

^ Back to Top ^