A former Jeopardy! champion was just arrested in New Hampshire and charged with six felony Class A complaints of possession of child pornography. This all happened after the Exeter Police Department joined forces with the Internet Crimes Against Children Taskforce, which kicked off in March.
Here is what you need to know about the arrest, the charges, and what could happen to the former Jeopardy! champion.
Former Jeopardy! Champion Arrested For Child Porn
Brendan DuBois was a Jeopardy! champion in Season 29 in 2012. He won his first game on September 28, 2012, and won before losing in his very next appearance, leaving as just a one-game champion. His total winnings were $24,000. He also appeared on The Chase and won $17,500 in 2015.
Brendan DuBois turned himself in to authorities on Wednesday, July 10, and he remains in the Rockingham County Jail at this time on child porn charges. The police reportedly found dozens of “sexually explicit conduct” in his home, and the courts arraigned him for six counts of possessing child sexual abuse materials (via TMZ).
Dubois is 64 and authorizes said he possessed “at least 35 visual representations of children under the age of 18 engaging in various sexual acts.” Class A felonies are the most serious criminal offenses. They can result in between 7 1/2 years in prison to up to 15 years.
Brendan Dubois Was Also A Best-Selling Author
Jeopardy! is not the only thing that Brendan Dubois was known for. He is also a best-selling author. He has written 29 novels over his career, with his most recent being Terminal Surf. Dubois has also been one of James Patterson’s legion of co-authors.
Patterson often hires other authors to write books based on his ideas and outlines. Both Patterson and the co-author are listed on the cover. Dubois has written The Summer House and Blowback under this deal with Patterson. He also co-wrote a book in the Alex Cross series with Patterson called Cross Down. His new novel, Terminal Surf, came out last month and is the 12th book in his Lewis Cole Series.
Dubois won the Shamus Award from the Private Eye Writers of America, two Barry Awards, two Derringer Awards, the Ellery Queen Readers Award, and three Edgar Allan Poe Award nominations from the Mystery Writers of America.
Severn River Publishing, which published his book Terminal Surf, said it was deeply disturbed by the allegations against him. They said they believed in the law playing out. However, they immediately suspended all promotion and sales of his books out of respect for the reading community (via NBC News).
Are you surprised about the charges against Brendan Dubois? Do you remember him from Jeopardy! or have you read his bestselling novels?
