Disgraced actor Jeffrey Jones has made a surprise return to the spotlight more than 20 years after a child abuse scandal destroyed his Hollywood career.

The 77-year-old, best known for playing strict high school principal Ed Rooney in the 1986 cult classic Ferris Bueller’s Day Off, stepped back into the public eye during a panel at The Hollywood Show — a fan convention where he reunited with former co-stars reported The Sun.

Once a staple of 80s films, including Beetlejuice, Jones has remained largely out of the public eye since his arrest in 2002 on child sex charges.

The actor interacted with fans and gave a glimpse into his life today, revealing he’s no longer based in Los Angeles.

“I moved to live in the desert,” he said. “I didn’t want to be in LA anymore, but I got my family here, and so little kids get old fast. I’m driving back and forth.”

He added: “I’m getting a place now in LA I’ve given up because I can’t keep going back and forth from Burbank to the desert.”

Reflecting on his work with the late director John Hughes, Jones said: “He entertained, and was certainly collaborative. He wanted what he wanted. Usually it was a fight because there was time and budget to consider, and John didn’t really pay much attention to that.”

But his fall from grace was dramatic.

In 2002, Jones was arrested and charged with possession of child abuse images and soliciting a 14-year-old boy to pose nude. He later pleaded no contest to the solicitation charge, with the pornography charge dropped by prosecutors.

He was sentenced to five years’ probation and ordered to undergo one year of psychological counselling and two years of drug and alcohol counselling. He was also required to register as a sex offender for life and banned from possessing pornography.

At the time, he said: “I am sorry that this incident was allowed to occur. Such an event has never happened before and it will never happen again.”

Jones was arrested again in 2004 after failing to register as a sex offender when he moved to Florida, and again in 2010 upon returning to Los Angeles. He pleaded guilty and received 250 hours of community service and a further three years’ probation.

His once-thriving career has never recovered. And in a final snub, Jones’ character in Beetlejuice was killed off for the upcoming sequel Beetlejuice Beetlejuice, which is due to hit cinemas later this year.