Jefferson County Man Sentenced For Child Pornography

         BEAUMONT, Texas – A 33-year-old Port Neches, Texas man has been sentenced to 25 years in federal prison for child pornography violations in the Eastern District of Texas, announced U.S. Attorney John M. Bales today.

         Christopher Dale Harrison pleaded guilty on Nov. 19, 2013 to production of child pornography and was sentenced to 300 months in federal prison today by U.S. District Judge Thad Heartfield.

         According to information presented in court, on Apr. 18, 2013, a federal search warrant was executed at Harrison’s Port Neches home. During the search, agents located and seized an external hard drive and a cell phone from the home and a camera owned by Harrison that had been recently pawned at a local pawn shop. Forensic examinations of the items revealed they contained images of child pornography. Agents were able to determine that the images containing child pornography on the camera were taken at Harrison’s residence in Port Neches and involved a child younger than 18 years of age engaged in sexually explicit conduct and that Harrison had persuaded and ordered this minor to engage in this conduct.

         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.

         This case was investigated by Homeland Security Investigations, HSI-ICE, the Port Neches Police Department, the Beaumont Police Department, and the Orange County Sheriff’s Office and prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Michelle Englade.