American conspiracy theorist Alex Jones was found guilty by default in four defamation cases on Monday.

The cases were brought against him by the families of children killed at Sandy Hook elementary school mass shooting. Jones has repeatedly and wrongly claimed the shooting was a hoax.

Lawyers for the Sandy Hook families said Jones and his companies, Infowars and Free Speech Systems, violated judicial procedure by not disclosing documents showing how he profited from his portrayal of Sandy Hook and other similar incidents of mass shootings.

Twenty first-grade children were killed at the school in Newtown, Connecticut, during a mass shooting in 2012.

For years, Jones cajoled his listeners on his popular conspiracy theory show into a campaign of targeted harassment against the families of the children killed there.

As the cases against him from families piled up, Jones pivoted and said the Sandy Hook mass shooting was not a hoax.

'Failure to produce' leads to default judgement

Judge Barbara Bellis made the decision to find him guilty by default. She cited Jones and his company's "failure to produce critical material information that the plaintiffs needed to prove their claims" in making the rare move.

In a brief in July, the lawyers for the Sandy Hook parents wrote that Jones' "pattern of defying and ignoring court orders to produce responsive information is well established."

Lawyers for Jones responded by denying that they had defied the court's rulings and called for Bellis to be removed, alleging that she was not impartial.

In defaulting judgment to the Sandy Hook families, Bellis will hold a hearing to determine how much Jones must pay the families in damages.

Not Jones' first defamation judgment

In Texas, a judge came to a similar conclusion recently in three defamation lawsuits brought by Sandy Hook families for which Jones failed to produce documents. Jones was held liable for damages, and a hearing has been ordered.

ar/aw (AP)