Robert Blaine Harris, Kidnapping and Enticing Minors, Texas 2016

A Fort Worth man has been sentenced to 14 years in prison for kidnapping and enticing two teenage girls to engage in sexual activity.

Robert Blaine Harris, 50, was sentenced to 172 months in federal prison by U.S. District Judge Reed C. O'Connor after pleading guilty in July 2016 to an indictment charging one count of enticement of a minor and aiding and abetting, announced U.S. Attorney John Parker of the Northern District of Texas.

Harris has been in custody since his arrest in January 2016 and is currently serving his sentence.

According to documents filed in the case, Harris engaged in a relationship with a minor using Skout, an online dating application, and persuaded, induced, and enticed the minor and another 13-year-old female to engage in sexual activity.

On January 2, 2016, Harris acknowledged in a message that he knew both girls were 'underage and I could get in really big trouble and that would ruin my life.' He then traveled to Abilene and picked up the two 13-year-old females and transported them to his residence in Fort Worth to engage in sexual activity.

The two juvenile females were recovered by law enforcement at Harris' residence on January 9, 2016, after Harris called the Fort Worth police.

This case marks another success in the fight against child exploitation and abuse. Since the launch of the Project Safe Childhood (PSC) initiative in May 2006, the Department of Justice has filed over 20,000 cases against individuals who exploit children via the Internet.

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement's (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), San Angelo Police Department, Abilene Police Department, and Fort Worth Police Department investigated the case, with Assistant U.S. Attorney Juanita Fielden in charge of the prosecution.

Source: https://www.justice.gov/usao-ndtx/pr/fort-worth-man-sentenced-172-months-federal-prison-kidnapping-and-enticing-two-teenage