Jeopardy! champion Joey DeSena has been arrested in North Carolina and charged with 10 counts of sexual exploitation of a minor.
An arrest warrant also accuses DeSena of possessing sexually explicit photographs and videos of children. He was booked into Wake County Jail and held without bail after his first court appearance.
The arrest took place last Friday, almost three months after DeSena was convicted in a separate case involving two counts of secret peeping.
Those charges arose from an incident in which he filmed a woman in her bedroom and bathroom. DeSena pleaded guilty and was sentenced to 60 months’ probation, ordered to complete 100 hours of community service and told to undergo a mental health examination with a psychologist specialising in psychosexual treatment.
DeSena was a development engineer based in Raleigh before appearing on Jeopardy! in 2024. He won two games and collected $44,698.
After losing his third game, he went on to compete in the 2025 Champions Wildcard tournament, reaching the semi-finals before being eliminated.
