Guatemalan police authorities have reportedly arrested controversial online artist and YouTuber ValdroxX for allegedly producing and selling child pornography which he obtained by using his anime characters Cristali, Zaffiro and Jade.
David Alejandro Pascual Argueta — who also uses the name Cristali & Zafiro Toon — was arrested during a raid on his home in Villa Nueva on Thursday, April 11, 2019, Guatemalan news website Prensa Liber says [link in Spanish].
Authorities are also said to have seized computer equipment and cell phones as evidence.
According to Presna Liber, ValdroxX — who has also previously been accused of copying other people’s work — used his anime characters, Cristali, Zafiro and Jade, to “capture the attention of girls and to impress them with his drawings of anime.”
He also allegedly “held conversations on the social network Instagram” with underage girls and formed a “bond of friendship” with them before asking them for “intimate photographs.”
Guatemalan police authorities and public prosecutors from the Guatemala Public Ministry (PM) are accusing Pascual Argueta of receiving photographs of underage girls and making sexualized anime copies of the photographs to “sell on an independent website of child pornographic material.”
Cristali & Zafiro Toon: A backgrounder
ValdroxX Studio, aka Cristali & Zafiro Toon, is a controversial online artist whose work is widely disseminated online through YouTube and social media, including Twitter and Facebook.
Online detractors have previously accused the artist behind Cristali & Zafiro of falsely pretending to be a a teenage girl while actually being a 20-year-old male called David Alejandro Pascual Argueta. Some sources identify him a David Alesso Argueta.
The artist’s two main Original Characters (OCs) are sexualized female subjects Cristali and Zafiro, which he uses to create NSFW content. The artist’s Twitter account for instance is private and protected, and restricted to 18+ viewers. The Twitter handle has a warning that “Children are NOT allowed.”
“Your decision, I am free to publish what I want. NSFW,” the artist warns.
ValdroxX’s critics claim that his work is not original and is mostly traced, alleging that he profits from stolen content.
The artist also maintains a Patreon page and his work can also be viewed on DeviantArt.com, where he has a history of controversy centering around allegations of stealing the work of another artist through tracing, before using it for his NSFW art.
Cristali allegedly ignored the artist’s protests and requests that he should stop stealing and using her work for his NSFW work.
There are several videos posted to YouTube that claim to expose Cristali’s alleged history of stealing other artists’ content and copyrighting the allegedly stolen content.
However, the gravest allegation against Cristali and Zafiro was the one that he preys on underage girls and that he is a pedophile.
He’s been accused of promoting sexualized art work to underage girls and asking them to “collaborate” with him by sending nude photos to him. He has reportedly entered into such “collaboration” with several underage girls, some of whom have come out publicly to accuse him of asking them for nudes.