KNOXVILLE, Tenn.- On July 31, 2017, Douglas Eric Harrell, 36, of Knoxville, Tenn., was sentenced by the Honorable Thomas W. Phillips, Senior U.S. District Judge, to serve 79 months in federal prison as a result of his conviction for distribution and possession of child pornography.  Following his release from prison, Harrell will be supervised by the U.S. Probation Office for 10 years and required to register with the sex offender registry in any state in which he resides, works, or attends school.

Harrell pleaded guilty on earlier in 2017 to federal charges stemming from an undercover investigation into distribution of child pornography via peer-to-peer file sharing software on the Internet.  After undercover investigators downloaded child pornography from Harrell’s computer, a federal search warrant was executed at his residence.  A forensic examination of his computer revealed that he had collected  over 1,000 images and videos of child pornography.  A  assortment of the depictions of child abuse collected by Harrell was available for download by others from his computer through the use of peer-to-peer software.

Nancy Stallard Harr,  U.S. Attorney, emphasized the importance of pursuing child pornography offenders.  “The United States Attorney’s office will continue to aggressively prosecute individuals who victimize children, who are some of the most vulnerable members of our society, by sharing child pornography on the Internet.”

This investigation was conducted locally by Knoxville Police Department’s Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force.  Assistant U.S. Attorney LaToyia Carpenter represented the United States.

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 U.S. Attorneys’ Offices and the Criminal Division’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section, 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.