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Jonathan David Reep, better known as Jon Reep, 53, of Hickory, was scheduled to make his first appearance in court on nine counts of third-degree sexual exploitation of a minor and one count of second-degree sexual exploitation of a minor, according to court documents.

Reep retained Blair Cody to represent him on the charges. Cody said he filed a motion on Monday to appear on behalf of Reep for the first appearance. The filing said Reep is aware of what charges he faces and how many years he could face in prison if convicted.

The filing said the maximum possible sentence for each of the third-degree sexual exploitation of a minor charges is 39 months. The second-degree sexual exploitation of a minor charge carries a maximum sentence of 88 months. If convicted of all 10 charges, Reep could face a maximum of 36 years and seven months in prison.

Reep was indicted on the charges by a Catawba County grand jury on Sept. 2. Reep was arrested on Sept. 5 and released on a $260,000 bond the same day, according to court documents.

The charges stem from materials found during searches of Reep’s home on 19th Avenue Lane Northwest, emails linked to Reep, and a Dropbox account linked to Reep, according to the search warrants.

The indictment says the videos found during the searches depicted juvenile females, between the ages of 1 and 13, engaged in sexual acts.

On Jan. 25, the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children contacted the Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force to report a video which appears to show sexual acts involving a female child between the ages of 3 and 5, according to a search warrant for a Dropbox account belonging to the email jonreep@gmail.com.

The account was traced back to an IP address at a home on 19th Avenue Lane Northwest. Reep was identified as the owner of the IP address on April 15. His house and the reported Dropbox account were searched on April 16, according to court documents. Hickory police seized a laptop, a phone, SD cards and USB drives. Additional email accounts, jonreep@gmail.com, jonreep1@gmail.com and jonreep@mac.com were searched on May 6, according to court documents.

Who is Jon Reep?

Reep won the comedy competition “Last Comic Standing� in 2007 and starred in several Dodge commercials in the early 2000s.

Reep owns a line of barbecue sauces called “South in ya Mouth.” He also starred in the podcasts “A.I.: Absolute Ignorance” and “Carolina Reeper.” As of Monday, all of Reep’s social media accounts appear to have been deleted or deactivated. His websites, and , are also inaccessible. The podcast “A.I.: Absolute Ignorance” was removed from multiple listening services, such as Apple Podcasts and iHeart Radio. The podcast “Carolina Reeper” was still available on Apple Podcasts. The latest “Carolina Reeper” episode was published one day after Reep was indicted.

Reep attempted to run for mayor of Hickory in 2022. Reep was not eligible for the election because he lived outside of the city limits, according to a .

Reep is innocent of all charges until proven guilty in a court of law.