#CreeperAlert: A former Jon and Kate Plus 8 editor has been arrested and charged on 10 counts of child pornography!! Hit the jump for the full story…
William Blankinship is accused of third degree sex exploitation of a minor, which means he possessed material containing a visual representation of a minor engaging in sexual activity.
The 56-year-old was arrested on October 21 in North Carolina as part of the State Bureau Investigation sting known as Operation Spyglass.
Blankinship, who is professionally known as Bill, has editing credits on some of cable channel TLC’s top-rated family shows featuring children.
As well as Jon And Kate Plus 8 he has worked on 17 Kids and Counting and Table for 12.
No bail amount was set for him, and a spokesperson for the Federal Bureau of Prisons told RadarOnline: ‘Usually when that happens, they’re under the authority of the U.S. Marshals until they are sentenced and convicted, and then they’d be sent to a Federal prison.’
Blankinship was never directly employed by TLC, which was originally set up as a learning oriented channel in 1972.
Instead he was a subcontractor from the production company Figure 8 Films.
In a statement the company said: ‘Bill Blankinship was employed by Serious Robots, with whom Figure 8 Films subcontract for editing services.
‘Upon learning of the shocking allegations his employment was terminated.
‘At no time was this man ever in the field or in direct contact with any of the talent for any of our productions.’
The Mail Online contacted Serious Robots, however they refused to comment on the story, or confirm whether he was still in their employ.
However his name no longer features on the North Carolina post-production company’s website.
As well as working as an editor, he had also been an executive producer with the company.
In 2009 Jon Gosselin expressed his distaste for having his children on reality show Jon and Kate Plus 8.
He said: ‘I put my kids out there to every pedophile on the planet and they never got paid for it.’
