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Creator Of ‘Mugshawtys,’ A Curated Collection Of Female Mugshots, Argues His 'Baes' Have Nothing To Be Ashamed About
When it comes to most of the women on "Mugshawtys," its creator simply hopes "bae gets bail."
The man behind a social media account dedicated to posting aesthetically pleasing female mugshots says most of the ladies have nothing to be ashamed of, in his opinion.
Josh Jeffery, a 24-year-old electrician and true crime lover from California, started collecting and posting female mugshots around 2016 or 2017, he told Oxygen.com in an interview. He noticed some Tumblr accounts “that posted attractive female mugshots” so he decided to start his own version on Twitter.
His Twitter account Mugshawtys now has over 200K followers. Its bio states, “Hope bae gets bail.” He also runs an Instagram counterpart with over 11,000 followers.
The many mugshots of Sara Jane Isbister, whose collection of mugshots he posted as a pinned tweet, kicked off his desire to run the sites, Jeffery explained.
“[Isbister's] probably my favorite, I guess,” he said. “That was kind of the first one I saw where I was like, 'Dude, this girl is gorgeous. Oh my God.' I thought she was incredible and I kept finding more of her mugshots.”
To make it to his list, Jeffery said something has to “pop out." Earlier this month, he posted a mugshot of Katie Lee Pitchford, who was charged with domestic battery after allegedly “crushing her boyfriend’s balls with her bare hands,” according to Jeffrey. Additionally, she was accused of choking him. That post garnered a lot of attention, Jeffery said.
“As soon as I saw that, I thought people are going to go crazy for that one,” he told Oxygen.com. “So that one was obvious.”
Pitchford’s charge is on the more serious side of the allegations that make Jeffery's list. Women like Shaylyn Moran, who is accused of shooting her ex's mom to death with a 3D-printed gun along with her new boyfriend, also fit in the more serious category.
Generally though, a good portion of the women's charges relate to marijuana possession and prostitution, both of which should not be crimes in Jeffery’s eyes.
“I don’t want to say that our justice system is a complete joke but there are definitely aspects of it that are a joke,” he said, adding that he feels strongly that both sex work and marijuana should be legalized.
In the beginning, Jeffery said he’d scour jail rosters and databases for hours but now, many women send him their mugshots directly. Since some of these women actually want their mugshots out there, he said this proves that some of these arrests aren’t as shameful as they used to be.
“There are so many people who are like, ‘Oh whatever, I have a mugshot for something stupid,’” he said. “I just think it’s not as big of a deal anymore in this day and age. I feel like it doesn’t mean that much unless you have done a heinous crime.”
Jeffery said he himself has never been arrested but joked that “if I had a mugshot I’d definitely be the only male mugshawty.”
When asked if his hobby could be perceived as exploitative, he responded, “I’ve had some people, a few, get upset with me and DM [direct message] me about it. I can see where they are coming from but I’m not trying to cause anybody harm or make it harder for someone to find a job. There’s definitely no ill intent behind anything and if someone wants their post taken down, 100 percent I’ll take it down right away.”
In addition to posting aesthetically pleasing mugshots, Jeffery said he loves serial killer documentaries and "48 Hours."
Admiring the aesthetic of certain mugshots is nothing new. Jeremy "Hot Felon" Meeks became famous in 2014 after his mugshot went viral. He has since become a runway model and had a child with Topshop heiress Chloe Green.
