A 42-year-old Vancouver man was sentenced Thursday to nearly four years in prison for possessing child pornography, but his incarceration was postponed while he appeals his convictions.
Clark County Superior Court Judge Bernard Veljacic handed down a sentence of 46 months against Aaron M. Harrier, who was also ordered to register as a sex offender.
Harrier was originally arrested on suspicion of 10 counts of possessing depictions of a minor engaged in sexually explicit conduct in May 2016, court records show. He was convicted in June of five counts of the offense in the first and second degree at the conclusion of a bench trial — meaning he waived his right to have a jury decide his case.
During the trial, the defense filed a motion about the suppression of evidence. Specifically, Harrier opposed how police obtained the evidence, Senior Deputy Prosecutor Jeff McCarty said after Thursday’s sentencing hearing.
Veljacic denied the defense’s motion, siding with the prosecution. But Harrier, through his defense attorney Brian Walker, has appealed that decision and posted a $10,000 appeal bond that allows him to stay out of prison until the Washington Court of Appeals delivers its ruling.
McCarty said defendants remaining out of custody on appeal bonds is uncommon but happens occasionally.
On Dec. 31, 2015, the cloud storage service for Verizon Wireless submitted a cyber tip to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children regarding at least six suspected images of child pornography that had been uploaded to its server. The phone number associated with the account was later traced to Harrier, according to a probable cause affidavit.
The cloud storage company provided Vancouver police with a thumb drive of the phone’s contents, which included hundreds of images, video and audio files of adult pornography and about 80 suspected images of child pornography, the affidavit said.
Harrier told police he only accessed the internet in his home through his cellphone and admitted that he has a “porn problem,” according to court documents. He also admitted to viewing suspected child pornography and downloading or saving the images, the affidavit said.
Harrier has no other criminal convictions. His sentence was a joint agreement between the prosecution and his lawyer.
Investigators found no indication that Harrier sexually abused children, McCarty said.
Walker described Harrier’s child porn possession as a one-time occurrence. His client was redirected to such a site on a single night and failed to appropriately retreat from its contents, he said.
“Unlike similar cases, (Harrier) has no long-term problem,” Walker told the judge. “This was one time, one offense.”
The defense attorney took issue with some of the prosecution’s proposed conditions of release, such as a no-contact order with children, and a prohibition on internet use.
Veljacic granted Harrier permission to go to places, such as malls, schools and parks as long as he is with his two young children. He also permitted internet access for Harrier.
“You know what your weaknesses are, so if you need to implement a safe-search tool on your browser so you’re not tempted, that’s what you need to do,” the judge said.
Harrier said he understood the severity of his actions and has used the opportunity to grow as a person.
“I know my own integrity. No kid is at risk. All I want is a bubble to be with my family and friends. … That’s how I can be successful in this process,” he said.
