Oregon man sentenced to more than 8 years on federal child pornography charge

SAN JOSE — An Oregon man was sentenced Wednesday to 97 months in prison for possession of child pornography, following a probe by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement's (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) in conjunction with the Silicon Valley Internet Crimes Against Children (SAFE) Task Force.

John William Harrison, 45, of Portland, Ore., pleaded guilty in July 2013 to one count of possession of child pornography. According to the plea agreement, Harrison admitted engaging in multiple online conversations from his home with a person he believed was the father of a 7-year-old girl living in San Jose.

The person posing as the father was really an undercover HSI special agent. During these conversations, Harrison indicated he had more than 600 still images and at least 75 videos of children engaged in sexually explicit conduct. Harrison also admitted that at least one of the videos contained footage of a child being subjected to sadomasochistic behavior and that most of the images found on his computer involved pre-pubescent minors under age 12. Finally, Harrison admitted he sent all of these digital files to the undercover agent in San Jose using both his Yahoo email account and the U.S. mail.

Harrison was arrested on a felony criminal complaint in May 2013 and arraigned before a U.S. magistrate judge in Portland. He was charged initially with distribution of child pornography. After making his first court appearance later that month, Harrison agreed to waive indictment and was charged in a criminal information with possession and distribution of child pornography.

The sentence was handed down by U.S. District Court Judge Lucy H. Koh. Judge Koh also sentenced the defendant to a five-year period of supervised release and he will be required to register as a sex offender. The defendant was in custody at the time of sentencing and began serving his sentence immediately.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Amie D. Rooney is prosecuting the case aided by Tracey Andersen.