BALTIMORE – An investigation led by the Homeland Safety Investigations (HSI) Baltimore area workplace resulted in a 45-year federal jail sentence, adopted by a lifetime of supervised launch, for a registered intercourse offender for the sexual exploitation of two minor women to supply youngster pornography. Dennis James Harrison, 40, of Rocky Ridge, acquired the prolonged sentence Jan. 3 after pleading responsible to sexually exploiting the minors, who have been between the ages of 10 and 12 on the time of the abuse.
Based on the HSI Baltimore investigation, between 2018 and 2021, Harrison sexually exploited two minor women starting when the one sufferer was 12 years outdated and when the opposite sufferer was 10 to 11 years outdated. Along with exploiting the minor women, Harrison recorded the conferences to supply youngster pornography.
“This sentence is a good instance of what will be completed when federal and native legislation enforcement businesses work in collaboration,” mentioned Particular Agent in Cost James C. Harris of HSI Baltimore. “Sexual exploitation is a repulsive crime, much more so when the victims are younger and defenseless. We work tirelessly to assist victims of sexual abuse, and encourage all victims to contact legislation enforcement, no matter whether or not the abuse was current or up to now. Defending kids from abuse by educating our communities and holding offenders accountable, is a precedence for our workplace.”
The investigation revealed that from at the least September 2020 via August 2021, Harrison engaged in sexual exercise with Sufferer 1, a 12-year-old lady who resided in Pennsylvania. Harrison picked-up Sufferer 1 from her residence and drove her to varied areas in Maryland, together with Harrison’s residence, the place he engaged in unlawful sexual exercise along with her. The defendant produced photos and movies of his sexual abuse of Sufferer 1 and enticed Sufferer 1 to ship him sexually specific pictures of herself.
Additional revealed within the HSI Baltimore investigation, Harrison used a hidden digital camera and a cell phone in 2018 to supply a sequence of photos depicting Sufferer 2, a 10-to-11-year-old lady, nude and partially nude in a bed room and loo in Pennsylvania and in a toilet in Maryland. The photographs have been taken with out the information of Sufferer 2.
Particular brokers from HSI Baltimore, in cooperation with native legislation enforcement officers, executed a search warrant at Harrison’s residence, Aug. 12, 2021. The investigators recovered a cellphone utilized by Harrison to movie his sexual abuse of Sufferer 1, in addition to a number of digital units.
HSI Baltimore carried out a forensic examination of all of the units and situated information depicting the sexual abuse of kids on every one, together with depictions of infants and toddlers. In whole, investigators found greater than 14,000 information of kid pornography on Harrison’s units.
Harrison additionally had an August 2009 conviction in Adams County, Pennsylvania, for possession of kid pornography and was a registered intercourse offender on the time of his arrest on this federal case.
Upon his launch from jail, Harrison should proceed to register as a intercourse offender within the locations the place he resides, the place he’s an worker, and the place he’s a scholar, below the Intercourse Offender Registration and Notification Act.
This investigation was led by HSI Baltimore, with important help from america Legal professional’s Workplace for the District of Maryland, and native legislation enforcement businesses.
This case was introduced as a part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative to fight the rising epidemic of kid sexual exploitation and abuse launched in Could 2006 by the Division of Justice. Led by United States Legal professional’s Places of work and the Legal Division’s Baby Exploitation and Obscenity Part (CEOS), Mission Secure Childhood marshals federal, state, and native assets to raised find, apprehend and prosecute people who exploit kids by way of the web, in addition to to determine and rescue victims.
HSI is the principal investigative arm of the Division of Homeland Safety (DHS), liable for investigating transnational crime and threats, particularly these legal organizations that exploit the worldwide infrastructure via which worldwide commerce, journey, and finance transfer. HSI’s workforce of over 10,400 workers consists of greater than 6,800 particular brokers assigned to 225 cities all through america, and 93 abroad areas in 56 international locations. HSI’s worldwide presence represents DHS’s largest investigative legislation enforcement presence overseas and one of many largest worldwide footprints in U.S. legislation enforcement.