A Battle Ground man was sentenced Friday to 15 years in prison and lifetime supervised release for producing child pornography, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.
David P. Harlan, 46, pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court in January to one count of production of child pornography. Some of the victims were the children of his friends.
“This is a serious offense with tragic consequences,” said U.S. District Judge Ronald Leighton. “The sentence here needs to deter conduct like this by you or by like-minded people.”
Harlan has been serving a 78-month sentence in state prison for molesting a 7-year-old girl who was depicted in his collection of child pornography, according to Clark County court records. He pleaded guilty in Clark County Superior Court to first-degree child molestation in June.
His federal sentence will run concurrent with the preexisting state sentence, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office. When he is released from federal prison, he will be under lifetime court supervision.
Assistant United States Attorney David Reese Jennings prosecuted the case.
German authorities alerted U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement in Portland that someone at a particular IP address in Vancouver was distributing child pornography using peer-to-peer file sharing software, according to records filed in the case. The IP address belonged to Harlan.
Investigators served a search warrant on Harlan’s Battle Ground home in March 2010 and seized 10 computers, numerous DVDs, hard drives and cameras. Forensic analysis uncovered more than 5,300 images and 183 movie files of children engaged in sexually explicit conduct. Some of the victims depicted in the images had already been identified by the Center for Missing and Exploited Children. Others were the children of Harlan’s friends.
In one instance, he took photos of a 5-year-old girl while her mother was busy in the kitchen.
“This case is a sad reminder that most children are victimized by someone they know and trust,” said Brad Bench, special agent in charge of Homeland Security Investigations in Seattle. “Fortunately, through this investigation that began halfway around the world in Germany, HSI and its local partners have put an end to Harlan’s sexual abuse of children.”
The investigation was conducted under HSI’s Operation Predator, an international initiative to protect children from sexual predators. Battle Ground and Vancouver police departments and the Clark County Sheriff’s Office also participated in the investigation.
Since the launch of Operation Predator in 2003, HSI has arrested more than 10,000 individuals for crimes against children, including the production and distribution of online child pornography, traveling overseas for sex with minors and sex trafficking of children.
HSI encourages the public to report suspected child predators and any suspicious activity through its toll-free Tip Line, 866-DHS-2-ICE, or its online tip form. Investigators staff both around the clock. Suspected child sexual exploitation or missing children may be reported to the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children, an Operation Predator partner, via its toll-free 24-hour hotline, 800-THE-LOST.
HSI also offers an app called Operation Predator, released last year for Apple devices and in the works for Android, to collect tips from the public.
