[HUGE UPDATE] CS creator held under $150'000 bond under sexual exploitation of a minor - Deemed "Risk to the community"

[ItsMitch]

Massive update from Ars Technica  - https://arstechnica.com/gaming/2018/02/a-risk-to-the-community-counter-strike-co-creator-faces-150k-bail-post-arrest/

 

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SEATTLE—Counter-Strike video game co-creator Jess Cliffe appeared in a King County courtroom on Friday, where his bail was set for $150,000 following his booking in a King County jail on Thursday over allegations of sexual exploitation of a minor.

 

 

The bail figure was set following a request by the King County Prosecuting Attorney's office to set bail at $250,000 "for the community's safety and the victim's safety." The office described its findings of probable cause when requesting that bail figure: Cliffe allegedly contacted at least one minor via a website, who he paid for sex "multiple times." In one encounter, Cliffe purportedly videotaped his sexual contact with this unnamed witness "against her will." After that encounter, the unnamed witness "stopped contact between the parties," the prosecutor alleged.

 

The prosecutor did not provide further details about the witness, how exactly the two parties met, or whether Cliffe was specifically made aware of her status as a minor.

 

"Even if the facts are true as claimed, this was a meeting on an adult website,"Cliffe's defense attorney Zachary Wagnild said when requesting that no bail be set for his client. "He was not looking for underage women and had no idea this woman was underage." Wagnild confirmed that his client and the witness indeed had sexual relations, adding that the witness had "said [Cliffe] was very nice." This request for zero bail also claimed Cliffe was not a flight risk and pointed out that he was a longtime Seattle homeowner with his girlfriend, who was in attendance at the hearing.

 

Judge Benjamin set the $150,000 figure and described Cliffe as a "risk to the community based on these findings." A no-contact order was set between Cliffe and the witness, and the order is set to expire February 23. Judge Benjamin also upheld the prosecutor's additional request that Cliffe be ordered to not possess firearms for the same amount of time.

Cliffe's next King County court appearance has been set for Monday, February 5. He had not posted paid bail as of press time. Valve Software had announced following Cliffe's Thursday arrest that he had been "suspended" until further notice. Valve representatives did not immediately respond to request for comment about Friday's hearing.

 

 

 

Original

CS fans woke up to quite the shock this morning when it was reported that the co creator Jess Cliffe was detained by authorities under charges of child sexual exploitation. 

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Counter-Strike co-creator Jess Cliffe has been arrested in Seattle for sexual exploitation of a child, reports suggest. Valve Corporation, his employer, has suspended his employment until further notice.

 

As reported by Kiro 7—a local Seattle news outlet—Cliffe was taken into custody in the early hours of Thursday morning, and was not charged with a crime. Kiro 7 suggests Cliffe will attend a bail hearing on Friday afternoon, though Kotaku reports that he was denied bail. 

 

On public attained documents it was reported he was denied bail immediately

Spoiler

 

Valve issued a statement with the following:

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We are still learning details of what actually happened. Reports suggest he has been arrested for a felony offense. As such we have suspended his employment until we know more

From the very little I know is that the police aren't confirming if a kid was actually harmed, and if a kid was in fact harmed, then this sack of shit can rot in hell. Pretty shocking to say the very least.

 

Sources: https://www.polygon.com/2018/2/2/16963890/counter-strike-jess-cliffe-arrested-suspended-valve - Kings County Arrest Records 

 

(i suspect the comments to be very lively so be kind to one another, cheers)

 

E: About the "co-creator" confusion. 

9 hours ago, Eduard the weeb said:

if I am correct him and his buddy came up with CS and the idea for it originally in the mods of Half Life death match 

[Sauron]

What does co-creator mean in this case? Did he help come up with the idea for the game or...? Isn't anyone involved in the project technically a co-creator?

 

Semantic doubts aside, I hope justice is served accordingly. I wonder what drives people like this to do such horrible things (if he is guilty)... there must be some mental illnesses behind it.

[ItsMitch]

Just now, Sauron said:

What does co-creator mean in this case? Did he help come up with the idea for the game or...? Isn't anyone involved in the project technically a co-creator?

 

I'm just going to assume that he was one of the first people behind the game (going from what news outlets are saying)

[Eduard the weeb]

OOF

 

if this is true that is disgusting. I hope this doesn't get taken by the media and spinned as esports fault or that this is proof gamers are violent, like no there are just sick people in the world like just because alot of actors are pedos and rapist don't mean making movies makes you a rapist, so playing video games doesn't make you a school shooter

[Eduard the weeb]

5 minutes ago, Sauron said:

What does co-creator mean in this case? Did he help come up with the idea for the game or...? Isn't anyone involved in the project technically a co-creator?

if I am correct him and his buddy came up with CS and the idea for it originally in the mods of Half Life death match 

Edited February 2, 2018 by Eduard the weeb
grammar fixes

[ItsMitch]

4 minutes ago, Eduard the weeb said:

 I hope this doesn't get taken by the media and spinned as esports fault or that this is proof gamers are violen

Knowing the media, I'll get spun like a web and the bullshit baseless accusations on how games turn people into violent monsters will come out. 

 

4 minutes ago, Eduard the weeb said:

if I am correct him and his buddy came up with CS and the idea for it originally in the mods of Half Life death match 

Indeed you are correct, updated OP^

[Sauron]

1 minute ago, Eduard the weeb said:

just because alot of actors are pedos and rapist don't mean making movies makes you a rapist

Althouuuugh there does seem to be some correlation between being a hotshot in Holliwood and molestation of newcomers. Turns out some people are scared to react, since they would risk losing their dream job, and it seems that situation has been taken advantage of. You know how they say, "opportunity makes the thief". Of course there's nothing to indicate that's the case here.

[Eduard the weeb]

Just now, Sauron said:

Althouuuugh there does seem to be some correlation between being a hotshot in Holliwood and molestation of newcomers. Turns out some people are scared to react, since they would risk losing their dream job, and it seems that situation has been taken advantage of. You know how they say, "opportunity makes the thief". Of course there's nothing to indicate that's the case here.

think it because they felt untouchable because of fame so they could go all Kevin Spacey on them and not have to worry about it, but with more people coming out those assaulted, molested, etc have been empowered to speak up.

[Rupe]

After such a great major, first North American team to win a major this is such a shame to hear.

As someone on the CSGO Sub-Reddit said this conversation doesn't age well

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[ItsMitch]

Just now, Rupe said:

After such a great major, first North American team to win a major this is such a shame to hear.

As someone on the CSGO Sub-Reddit said this conversation doesn't age well

 

that convo is like, ultra yikes. 

[Sauron]

4 minutes ago, Eduard the weeb said:

think it because they felt untouchable because of fame so they could go all Kevin Spacey on them and not have to worry about it, but with more people coming out those assaulted, molested, etc have been empowered to speak up.

Yes, I was just saying that it's not necessarily true that making movies can't be a factor in being a molester.

[Eduard the weeb]

right after the first NA major win in CS GO history this happens RIP

 

anyway C9 is my favorite team also lol

[Hiitchy]

22 minutes ago, Eduard the weeb said:

OOF

 

if this is true that is disgusting. I hope this doesn't get taken by the media and spinned as esports fault or that this is proof gamers are violent, like no there are just sick people in the world like just because alot of actors are pedos and rapist don't mean making movies makes you a rapist, so playing video games doesn't make you a school shooter

Knowing the media and some of these outlets... They've probably already started shoving that down everyone's throats.

[Notional]

Is this one of those american "he had sex with a 17 year old 2 hours before she turned 18", or is it actual children?

 

Either way, he hasn't even been charged yet, let alone convicted. Relax on the witch trial bs.

[ItsMitch]

28 minutes ago, Notional said:

Is this one of those american "he had sex with a 17 year old 2 hours before she turned 18", or is it actual children?

 

Well, since he was denied bail before any charges was formally filed I'm going to go with actual children

[NTDaws]

Jinkies! I'm more of a GTA guy anyways

[divito]

I wouldn't say CS:GO co-creator, even though he was still with Valve but that's neither here nor there. He co-created the original Half-Life mod of Counter-Strike with Minh Le in 1999 before they were acquired by Valve in 2000.

[ItsMitch]

2 minutes ago, divito said:

I wouldn't say CS:GO co-creator, even though he was still with Valve but that's neither here nor there. He co-created the original Half-Life mod of Counter-Strike with Minh Le in 1999 before they were acquired by Valve in 2000.

I've just changed the title to avoid any other confusion. 

[wasab]

Sexually exploiting children... hm.. What exactly did he do? Trafficking kids? Selling illegal pornography? What is his crime? 

 

In any case, we are all assuming he is innocent until proven guilty, at least in the eyes of the courts and laws anyway.

[ItsMitch]

1 minute ago, wasab said:

Sexually exploiting children... hm.. What exactly did he do? Trafficking kids? Selling illegal pornography? What is his crime? 

The crime is sexually exploiting children following an investigation, so most likely selling kid porn or making it..... even typing that makes me feel sad about life. 

[Brooksie359]

3 hours ago, Eduard the weeb said:

OOF

 

if this is true that is disgusting. I hope this doesn't get taken by the media and spinned as esports fault or that this is proof gamers are violent, like no there are just sick people in the world like just because alot of actors are pedos and rapist don't mean making movies makes you a rapist, so playing video games doesn't make you a school shooter

Nah you lying. Do you know what all murders have in common? They drink water so it's obvious that water is causing all this. It's in the water friends. Kappa

[ItsMitch]

Just now, Brooksie359 said:

Nah you lying. Do you know what all murders have in common? They drink water so it's obvious that water is causing all this. It's in the water friends. Kappa

i thought this was serious until i seen the kappa at the end, i raise that kappa to a GachiBASS clap 

[ItsMitch]

BREAKING UPDATE  

More information has came to light on the situation and Cliffe is going to argue that he wasn't aware of the age of the person he was meeting. 

 

Quote

 

SEATTLE—Counter-Strike video game co-creator Jess Cliffe appeared in a King County courtroom on Friday, where his bail was set for $150,000 following his booking in a King County jail on Thursday over allegations of sexual exploitation of a minor.

 

 

The bail figure was set following a request by the King County Prosecuting Attorney's office to set bail at $250,000 "for the community's safety and the victim's safety." The office described its findings of probable cause when requesting that bail figure: Cliffe allegedly contacted at least one minor via a website, who he paid for sex "multiple times." In one encounter, Cliffe purportedly videotaped his sexual contact with this unnamed witness "against her will." After that encounter, the unnamed witness "stopped contact between the parties," the prosecutor alleged.

 

The prosecutor did not provide further details about the witness, how exactly the two parties met, or whether Cliffe was specifically made aware of her status as a minor.

 

"Even if the facts are true as claimed, this was a meeting on an adult website,"Cliffe's defense attorney Zachary Wagnild said when requesting that no bail be set for his client. "He was not looking for underage women and had no idea this woman was underage." Wagnild confirmed that his client and the witness indeed had sexual relations, adding that the witness had "said [Cliffe] was very nice." This request for zero bail also claimed Cliffe was not a flight risk and pointed out that he was a longtime Seattle homeowner with his girlfriend, who was in attendance at the hearing.

 

Judge Benjamin set the $150,000 figure and described Cliffe as a "risk to the community based on these findings." A no-contact order was set between Cliffe and the witness, and the order is set to expire February 23. Judge Benjamin also upheld the prosecutor's additional request that Cliffe be ordered to not possess firearms for the same amount of time.

Cliffe's next King County court appearance has been set for Monday, February 5. He had not posted paid bail as of press time. Valve Software had announced following Cliffe's Thursday arrest that he had been "suspended" until further notice. Valve representatives did not immediately respond to request for comment about Friday's hearing.

 

 

[Crunchy Dragon]

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described Cliffe as a "risk to the community based on these findings."

Then why give someone the opportunity to bail him?

[ItsMitch]

2 minutes ago, Crunchy Dragon said:

Then why give someone the opportunity to bail him?

I'm guessing they're going off that no-one will even want to bond him out or they highly doubt he has $150'000 in cash. (Let's be real, who the fuck would even dare let out someone with such allegations) This will most likely end his career tbf.