“A risk to the community”—Counter-Strike co-creator faces $150K bail post-arrest

Enlarge / The King County courthouse, circa 2007. (credit: Joe Mabel / Wikimedia)

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.

Cliffe doesn’t have official photos available on Valve Software’s site; this much older, undated photo can still be found on his public MySpace profile. (credit: Jess Cliffe)

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, represented by Nyoko Maraire, 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.

Maraire 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.