Harley Lee Howell, III, Child Sex Trafficking, Idaho 2017

COEUR D’ALENE – A 35-year-old man from Washington state has been sentenced for his role in a federal child sex case. Harley Lee Howell, III, pleaded guilty to traveling with intent to engage in illicit sexual contact with a minor.

According to court records, Howell initiated a chat with an undercover federal agent posing as a 15-year-old minor on August 25, 2017. During the chat, Howell stated that he wanted to have sex with the minor. He then drove from Washington to Idaho and was arrested outside a Coeur d’Alene hotel room. Officers seized lubricant and condoms from Howell’s person.

Howell was indicted by a federal grand jury in Coeur d’Alene on September 14, 2017. The case was investigated by the Department of Homeland Security Immigration and Customs Enforcement/Homeland Security Investigations office with the assistance of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Kootenai County Prosecutor’s Office, United States Marshals Service, Coeur d’Alene Police Department, and the Washington Southeast Regional Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force.

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. Led by the U.S. Attorneys’ Offices and the Criminal Division’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state, and local resources to locate, apprehend, and prosecute individuals who sexually exploit children, and to identify and rescue victims.

Howell’s guilty plea is a significant victory for law enforcement and the community in their efforts to protect children from exploitation and abuse. The sentence sends a strong message that traveling to have sex with a minor will not be tolerated and will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.

The U.S. government is committed to protecting children from sexual exploitation and abuse. Through initiatives like Project Safe Childhood, we are working tirelessly to locate, apprehend, and prosecute individuals who engage in these heinous crimes.

For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.usdoj.gov/psc. For more information about internet safety education, please visit www.usdoj.gov/psc and click on the tab “resources.”

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