Lt. Daniel Harris was an all-American boy, the captain of his high school football and lacrosse teams.
For years, he had posed online as a teenager to convince young teen girls to send him suggestive pictures. He used those photos to blackmail the girls; demanding they send sexually graphic images and videos or else he would post the initial images online or send them to family and friends.
Investigators found more than 800 sexually explicit images and videos of girls on Harris' computer. Of the more than 275 screen names with which Harris had Skype conversations, more than 45 were girls who made it clear they were underage. Prosecutors called Harris "the victimizer and manipulator of hundreds of girls,"
But the tune changed after the prosecution presented a mountain of evidence and the jury found him guilty on 29 counts of production, receipt, transportation, and possession of child pornography, and two counts of obstruction of justice. Harris was sentenced to 50 years on Monday.
The most scathing letter came from Harris' wife, Erin, who was not at the sentencing. She had voiced strong support when her husband was arrested, and did not want those words to benefit him during sentencing. She said her initial comments came from a hopeful heart that had only a fraction of information."My observations were not only wrong, but couldn't be further from the truth," said Erin, who has filed for divorce. "In his world, only he matters."
In rendering his sentence, U.S. District Court Judge Mark Davis noted the "stark contrast" between the picturesque naval aviator and the convicted felon who stood shackled before him. He said Harris had "sadistically tormented," "manipulated," and "blackmailed" nine victims who ranged in age from 12 to 17.
The judge said he found it "very troubling" that Harris never admitted any of his activity despite the voluminous evidence against him. The fighter pilot instead blamed other people, and even created a fake scapegoat named "John Anderson" to avoid prosecution. Harris offered the wife of an inmate $3,000 to use that alias to send text messages to his family and victims, claiming to have framed him for the child porn charges. When all else failed, Harris sent a letter to the Chinese embassy promising military secrets if they broke him out of jail.
