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On Friday, Counter-Strike co-creator Jess Cliffe was hit with a $150,000 bail after being booked into King County jail on Thursday.The representative for the King County Prosecuting Attorney's office, Nyoka Maraire, requested that the bail be set for $250,000. This would be for both the "community's safety and the victim's safety." The $250,000 bail was requested after it was found that Cliffe had used an adult website to contact a minor and paid for sex multiple times.
During one such encounter, Cliffe had videotaped the sexual encounter "against her will." It was after this encounter that the victim (referred to in this case as the "witness") said that they "stopped contact" between themselves and Cliffe.
Zachary Wagnild, the defense attorney for Cliffe, says that the meeting took place on an adult website. He states that Cliffe "was not looking for underage women and had no idea this woman was underage." Wagnild continues on to say that Cliffe and the witness did have sexual encounters. He continues on to state that the witness claimed Cliffe "was very nice." Wagnild requested a zero bail and said Cliffe was not a flight risk.
Wagnild claimed that Cliffe was not a flight risk due to his being a longtime homeowner in the Seattle area. Cliffe shares that home with his girlfriend, who was present during Friday's bail hearing.
According to a firsthand account by Ars Technica, Cliffe donned an all-red jumpsuit and plastic slippers. He did not speak at all during the hearing. A request by Wagnild to not allow any photos or videos of his client's face was upheld by Judge Rod Benjamin as Cliffe has not yet been charged with a crime yet.
Judge Benjamin set the bail at $150,000 after hearing from both sides. In issuing the bail amount, he said that Jess Cliffe is a "risk to the community based on these findings." There is a no-contact order between Cliffe and the witness until February 23. The judge also ordered that Cliffe not be allowed to possess firearms until February 23.
Cliffe will appear in King County court again on February 5. On Thursday, Valve stated that they have indefinitely suspended Cliffe's employment with the company until they know more.
If they met on an adult website and she never told him she was underage, that puts a completely different spin on things.
As for the "against her will" thing it sounds like the sex was consensual but the videotaping was without her knowledge. Which -is- a creepy thing to do, but just destroy the tape and all copies of it and maybe pay a restitution fine and move on. And that's if they can prove it WAS without her knowledge. Innocent until proven guilty, and that's gonna be a hard thing to prove.
Unfortunately the law tends to be that ignorance is no excuse and it's very likely he can get punished because she was underage even though he never knew. That's how things tend to go.