Grant Harris, Producing Child Pornography, Pennsylvania 2017

Defendant Admits to Persuading Minor to Engage in Sexually Explicit Conduct

SCRANTON – Grant Harris, age 36, of Carbon County, pleaded guilty today before Senior U.S. District Court Judge James M. Munley in Scranton, to producing child pornography.

According to United States Attorney Bruce D. Brandler, Harris admitted to persuading and enticing a minor to engage in sexually explicit conduct for the purpose of producing a visual image of that conduct.

The crime occurred sometime between 2008 and 2009, when the victim was eight-years-old. Harris was indicted by a federal grand jury in November 2015, shortly after agents and police discovered the child pornography on a computer used by the defendant.

Judge Munley ordered a pre-sentence investigation to be completed and scheduled sentencing in the case for February 17, 2017. Harris remains detained in prison pending sentencing.

The investigation was conducted by Homeland Security Investigations, the Pennsylvania State Police, and the Pennsylvania Attorney General’s Office. Assistant United States Attorney Francis P. Sempa is prosecuting the case.

This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative launched in May 2006 to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse. The initiative marshals federal, state, and local resources to locate, apprehend, and prosecute individuals who sexually exploit children, and to identify and rescue victims.

Harris faces a mandatory minimum sentence of 15 years in prison and a potential maximum sentence of 30 years in prison, a term of supervised release following imprisonment, and a fine. Under the Federal Sentencing Guidelines, the Judge is also required to consider and weigh a number of factors, including the nature, circumstances and seriousness of the offense; the history and characteristics of the defendant; and the need to punish the defendant, protect the public and provide for the defendant’s educational, vocational and medical needs.

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