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Where Is Jeffrey Jones Now? A Look at the Disgraced "Beetlejuice" Actor's Life 22 Years After He Was Sentenced for Soliciting Child Pornography

Allstar Picture Library Ltd / Alamy ; AFF / Alamy Jeffrey Jones was a well-known actor in the 1980s for his starring roles inFerris Bueller's Day OffandBeetlejuice In November 2002, he was arrested and charged with soliciting a minor for nude photos and possession of child pornography Now, the actor continues to star in local California stage productions Jeffrey Joneswas a prolific actor in the 1980s and '90s thanks to his roles inFerris Bueller's Day OffandBeetlejuice, but his career came to an abrupt halt in 2002. The Golden Globe-nominated actor was charged with soliciting a minor and possession of child pornography and, a year later, was sentenced to five years of probation. While he still occasionally appears in projects, most notablyDeadwood, the disgraced actor has maintained a significantly low profile since his arrest. He also did not return for the 2024Beetlejuicesequel, which addressed his absence bykilling his character, Charles Deetz, off in a rather brutal fashion. In the film, Charles survives a plane crash, nearly drowns and is finally eaten by a shark. "The way Charles dies in that animated piece isTim's nightmare of dying," screenwriter Alfred Gough explained toEntertainment Weekly. "He literally pitched that: 'My nightmare is, I'm in a plane crash, I survive the plane crash, I almost drown, and then a shark eats me.' " Here's everything to know about where disgraced actor Jeffrey Jones is now. Geffen Film/Warner Brothers/Alamy Jones was born in Buffalo, N.Y., on Sept. 28, 1946, later moving to Putney, Vt. After high school, Jones attended college, where he was a pre-med student and acted in college productions. He dropped out in his sophomore year after he got a role in a play at Minneapolis' Guthrie Theater, where he met its namesake, director Tyrone Guthrie. Guthrie took Jones under his wing and even paid for him to go to drama school in London, Jones recalled in a 1997 interview withReadjunk. He then moved to New York City to make himself more available for castings and theater, and his role in the off-Broadway playCloud 9landed him two big breaks: a job in the 1983 comedyEasy Moneyand the part of Emperor Joseph II in 1984'sAmadeus. Jones was nominated for a Golden Globe for the latter. Jones' most famous roles were as Principal Ed Rooney in the 1986 hitFerris Bueller's Day Offand as patriarch Charles Deetz in Tim Burton's 1988 classicBeetlejuice. Jones worked with Burton frequently thereafter, appearing inEd WoodandSleepy Hollow. Frazer Harrison/Getty Jones' career largely ended in November 2002 when he was arrested and charged with employing a minor to take sexually explicit photos and being in possession of child pornography, theLos Angeles Timesreported. The child in the case, a boy from Fontana, Calif., was reportedly 14 years old when Jones paid him twice to pose for nude photographs at Jones' home. TheLos Angeles Timesreported that Jones had the child pose nude wearing a cowboy hat, dressed as an indigenous person and holding a stuffed animal. The offenses reportedly occurred in 1999 and 2000. Jones faced three years in prison if convicted of all charges, according toEntertainment Weekly. Nick Ut-Pool/Getty In July 2003, Jones pleaded no contest to soliciting a minor and prosecutors agreed to drop the possession of child pornography charge. According to theLos Angeles Times, he was sentenced to five years of probation, one year of psychological counseling and two years of drug and alcohol abuse counseling. Jones was also required to register as a sex offender for the rest of his life and prohibited from possessing any pornography. "This concludes a really painful chapter in my life," Jones told members of the media assembled outside the courthouse. "I am sorry that this incident was allowed to occur. Such an event has never happened before and it will never happen again." Jones' attorney went on to stress that the sex offenses were limited to photographs and that Jones never made any physical contact with the victim. His legal issues weren't over with the plea deal and probation, however. In July 2004, Jones was arrested for failing to register as a sex offender in Sarasota, Fla., theHerald Tribunereported. Jones had moved to a different apartment and didn't register within the required 48 hours of relocating. In 2010, Jones was arrested again for failing to register as a sex offender, this time in Los Angeles. He pleaded guilty that September,E! Newsreported, and was sentenced to 250 hours of community service and three years of probation. ©MGM/Courtesy Everett Collection In 2007, Jones appeared in the golf comedyWho's Your Caddy?and had an uncredited cameo inHemingway & Gellhornin 2012. He also starred in 2014's10.0 Earthquakeand as himself in the 2016 short7 Days. Jones starred as A.W. Merrick inDeadwoodfrom 2004 to 2006 and reprised the role for the HBO movie based on the series in 2019, marking his last screen appearance to date. Jeff Kravitz/FilmMagic for HBO Jones has continued acting on stage, theLos Angeles Timesreports. In 2015, he appeared in an L.A. production of63 Trillion. Three years later, he starred inThe Cocktail Hourat Coyote StageWorks in Palm Springs, Calif. TheCoachella Valley Independentreported that Jones had fallen ill ahead of the show's opening and had to rely on his script — and reading glasses — to get through the performance. In September 2023, Jones, who booked an appearance at Rhode Island Comic Con, was dropped from the event after organizers received complaints,WBSMreported. After posting a flyer that included a photo of Jones, organizerswrote on Facebookthat Jones had been vetted and removed from the lineup months earlier. "Unfortunately, it was left up on our scheduling calendar and was mistakenly posted," they wrote. 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