Harrison Elliot Combs, Child Pornography, Missouri 2018

A registered sex offender in Independence, Missouri, has landed in federal prison for his role in possessing and exchanging child pornography over the internet.

Harrison Elliot Combs, 28, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Roseann Ketchmark on Wednesday, May 15, to 15 years in federal prison without parole. The court also sentenced Combs to 20 years of supervised release following incarceration.

As a registered sex offender, Combs has a prior conviction for possessing child pornography. His latest offenses include one count of receiving child pornography over the internet, eight counts of attempting to distribute child pornography over the internet, and one count of possessing child pornography.

The investigation into Combs' activities began in September 2016, when a law enforcement officer was conducting an investigation into a peer-to-peer file-sharing network. On three separate occasions, Combs' computer was downloading child pornography from the network. On September 23, 2016, officers executed a search warrant at Combs' residence and seized his cell phone and other items. Examiners discovered approximately 1,631 images and 168 videos of child pornography on those items.

The majority of the images appeared to be of infant- to toddler-aged females involved in sexually explicit conduct by adults. Child pornography files were also associated with computers, a gaming system, a thumb drive, and optical discs belonging to Combs.

In January 2017, Combs' computer was again identified by law enforcement as downloading child pornography from a peer-to-peer file-sharing network on several occasions. There were approximately 1,962 image and video files downloaded between January 7 and January 16, 2017. The files included prepubescent males and females as young as toddlers involved in sexually explicit conduct by adults.

This case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Catherine A. Connelly. It was investigated by the FBI and the Kansas City, Mo., Police Department.

This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative launched in May 2006 by the U.S. government to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse.

Source: https://www.justice.gov/usao-wdmo/pr/independence-sex-offender-sentenced-15-years-child-pornography