Carbon County Man Charged With Producing, Distributing And Receiving, Child Pornography

SCRANTON - The United States Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of Pennsylvania announced that a Lake Harmony man was indicted on November 10, 2015 by a federal grand jury in Scranton on charges of producing, receiving and distributing child pornography.

According to United States Attorney Peter Smith, the grand jury alleges that Grant Harris, age 36, committed the offenses between 2008 and 2014. The Indictment was made public after Harris was taken into custody November 18, 2015.

The charges stem from an investigation by agents of Homeland Security Investigations, the Pennsylvania State Police, and the Pennsylvania Attorney General’s Office.

If convicted of the production charge, Harris faces a mandatory minimum sentence of 15 years in prison and a potential maximum sentence of 30 years in prison. The receipt and distribution charges each carry a mandatory minimum sentence of five years in prison and a potential maximum sentence of 20 years in prison.

This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative

launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse. Led by the United States 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. 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."

Assistant U.S. Attorney Francis P. Sempa is prosecuting the case.

Indictments and Criminal Informations are only allegations. All persons charged are presumed to be innocent unless and until found guilty in court.

A sentence following a finding of guilt is imposed by the Judge after consideration of the applicable federal sentencing statutes and the Federal Sentencing Guidelines.

The total maximum penalty under federal law is 70 years of imprisonment, a term of supervised release following imprisonment, and a fine. Under the Federal Sentencing Guidelines, the Judge is also required to consider and weigh a number of factors, including the nature, circumstances and seriousness of the offense; the history and characteristics of the defendant; and the need to punish the defendant, protect the public and provide for the defendant's educational, vocational and medical needs. For these reasons, the statutory maximum penalty for the offense is not an accurate indicator of the potential sentence for a specific defendant.

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