Comic book author suspected of putting child porn on YouTube

San Francisco resident Gerard Jones, 59, was arrested on suspicion of possessing more than 600 files of child pornography, police said. San Francisco resident Gerard Jones, 59, was arrested on suspicion of possessing more than 600 files of child pornography, police said. Photo: San Francisco Police Department / San Francisco Police Department Photo: San Francisco Police Department / San Francisco Police Department Image 1 of / 4 Caption Close Comic book author suspected of putting child porn on YouTube 1 / 4 Back to Gallery

An accomplished San Francisco comic book and nonfiction author, who has been published in Marvel and a slew of other publications, was arrested on suspicion of possessing more than 600 child pornography files and uploading the graphic videos to YouTube, police said Friday.

Gerard Jones, 59, was arrested after a police investigation and ensuing search warrant at his residence in the 600 block of Long Bridge Street in San Francisco’s Mission Bay neighborhood turned up a host of electronic devices storing more than 600 images and videos depicting child pornography, police said.

The longtime author has written screenplays for Warner Bros. and 20th Century Fox, served as a writing teacher for the San Francisco Writer’s Grotto, and put together graphic novels for both DC Comics and Marvel Comics, according to his official website.

He was arraigned Thursday and entered a not guilty plea on charges of possession of child pornography and distributing child pornography, a spokesman for the San Francisco District Attorney’s Office said.

Jones did not immediately return requests for comment. His lawyer, Seth Chazin, said his client denies all of the allegations and emphasized that the 59-year-old had no prior criminal record.

“It’s important to differentiate between violent sex offenders (and) these kinds of cases, because there’s a big difference,” Chazin said. “We tend to lump them all together.”

He was arrested Dec. 29 — the same day investigators executed their search warrant — at a coffee shop several blocks away from his home, according to Officer Robert Rueca, a spokesman for the San Francisco Police Department.

He was booked into San Francisco County Jail on suspicion of possession of child pornography, production of child pornography, sending harmful material to a minor and distribution of child pornography, police said.

The uploaded YouTube videos depicted a child performing sexual acts on an adult, police said. And other videos uncovered inside Jones’ home showed adults performing sexual acts on children as young as 1-year-old, police said.

Michael Bodley is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: mbodley@sfchronicle.com. Twitter: @michael_bodley