Former Schuyler Teacher Sentenced for Child Pornography
Jesse M. Harmon, 27, of Atkinson, Nebraska was sentenced in federal court in Omaha, Nebraska for receiving and attempting to receive child pornography. The Honorable Laurie Smith Camp sentenced Harmon to 12 years in prison. There is no parole in the federal prison system. After his release from prison Harmon will begin a five year term of supervised release.
Harmon was employed as a school teacher at Schuyler High School in Schuyler, Nebraska. Harmon first came to the attention of law enforcement when the father of a 15 year old student reported inappropriate Facebook messages Harmon sent to his daughter. The investigation revealed that a 16 year old student had received inappropriate Facebook and text messages from Harmon and Harmon had asked her to delete them. The 16 year old indicated that Harmon had sent revealing pictures of himself and she sent pictures of herself in return.
On January 18, 2011, the Nebraska State Patrol and Schuyler Police Department served a search warrant on Harmon’s Schuyler residence. His computer was seized. A forensic review revealed 140 images of child pornography unrelated to the images sent by the 16 year old student. Harmon admitted to receiving photographs from the 16 year old student after requesting the photos from her.
This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice. Led by United States Attorneys’ Offices and the Criminal Division's Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section (CEOS), Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state and local resources to better locate, apprehend and prosecute individuals who exploit children via the Internet, as well as to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.projectsafechildhood.gov.
