Bellingham man sentenced for child pornography, attempted enticement of a minor

A 28-year-old Bellingham man was sentenced Friday to 12 years in federal prison after he went to a hotel in December 2022 to sexually assault an 8-year-old child and film the abuse.

Clayton Paul Harker was sentenced Friday, Feb. 23, in the Western District of Washington in U.S. District Court to 12 years in federal prison, with 15 years of supervised release. Harker pleaded guilty Oct. 11, 2023 to attempted enticement of a minor and possession of child pornography, according to federal court records.

Harker will be required to register as a sex offender once he’s released from federal prison, according to a Friday press release from the U.S. Department of Justice.

The investigation

In November 2022, a special agent with Homeland Security Investigations assigned to the Blaine office received a request from an HSI agent in Portland asking for help with a child exploitation investigation involving Snapchat accounts.

HSI agents were investigating a Virginia-based Snapchat account for child pornography. A search warrant served on the Virginia-based account showed the account had nine gigabytes of data containing thousands of media files, including photographs and videos, of sexually explicit content involving women, many of whom appeared to be under age 18.

The Virginia-based Snapchat account also contained chat messages between the account holder and hundreds of other Snapchat users in which the Virginia-based account holder pressured young people to send sexually explicit images and videos, claiming they would be paid as “models,” according to federal court records and the DOJ press release.

Harker came to the attention of federal law enforcement agents after he began communicating with the Virginia-based Snapchat account. In months-long conversations, Harker and the Virginia-based account holder discussed the sexual exploitation of children, sharing, collecting and selling child pornography, how to groom children to have them produce child pornography, and the sexual trafficking and raping of children, federal court documents state.

Harker eventually asked the Virginia-based account holder if they knew of children in Washington state, The Bellingham Herald previously reported.

An undercover HSI agent in Oregon messaged Harker in mid-November 2022 on Snapchat pretending to have a 3-year-old child and an 8-year-old niece. Harker told the agent his name, where he lived and expressed “a strong desire” to meet and sexually assault the undercover agent’s fake daughter or niece, federal court records show. Harker also told the Oregon agent he would travel to Oregon to meet them.

In late November 2022, Harker messaged a separate Snapchat account ran by the HSI agent in Blaine. That agent pretended to be the undercover Oregon agent’s fake 8-year-old niece.

On Dec. 20, 2022, Harker and the undercover Oregon agent made plans to meet that afternoon at a Bellingham hotel.

Harker was arrested shortly before 4 p.m. the same day at a hotel near the Bellingham airport. Law enforcement who were surveilling Harker watched him leave his house and travel to the hotel before getting out of his vehicle carrying a black bag containing materials to sexually abuse the child and film the assault, The Herald previously reported.

Harker later admitted in an interview with federal agents that he intended to sexually assault an 8-year-old girl and film the abuse.

Sentencing hearing

Assistant U.S. Attorney Matthew Hampton asked the court Friday to sentence Harker to 30 years in prison.

Harker allegedly told federal agents who investigated the case that he regularly solicited minors to send him sexually explicit images over the internet and would use threats and extortion to get the children to send him the sexually explicit content, the DOJ press release states.

“Simply put, Harker has cut a swath of destruction across the lives of vulnerable minors whose only mistake was to cross paths with a predator. The threat he poses is real. And neutralizing that threat will require incapacitation through lengthy confinement followed by close supervision for the remainder of Harker’s life,” Hampton said in a prepared statement.

Harker’s federal public defender, Gregory Murphy, asked the court to sentence Harker to 10 years in prison.

In a sentencing memorandum filed with the court, Murphy said Harker “admitted a sexual interest in children, expressed a desire for mental health treatment, and expressed remorse for his conduct,” according to federal court records.

Murphy said Harker admitted to federal agents that he solicited images from unknown people on Snapchat, some of whom Harker believed to be minors. Murphy said Harker has consistently denied ever hurting anyone in real life and denied engaging in sexual misconduct with any minors, federal court documents state.

A forensic review of Harker’s devices showed he was in possession of 211 images and 22 videos of child pornography, federal records state.

Harker “welcomed his arrest as a valuable intervention,” Murphy, Harker’s defense attorney, wrote in his sentencing memorandum, adding that Harker wanted to be placed in a prison that offers sex offender treatment.

Murphy wrote that Harker admitted to attempting to commit “a terrible crime” but that Harker was remorseful and had been cooperative with federal agents investigating the crimes.

“Mr. Harker’s personal characteristics — including his abusive personal history and the absence of any prior misconduct — are overwhelmingly mitigating,” Murphy wrote to the court in asking for a decade-long prison sentence for Harker.

United States District Court Judge Richard A. Jones ultimately sentenced Harker on Friday to 12 years in prison for his crimes.

“The court finds these cases extremely troubling. Fictitious individual or not, you had a clear thought in your mind to act on your desires,” Jones said at Harker’s sentencing, according to the DOJ press release.

The case was investigated by Homeland Security Investigations as part of the Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force based at the Seattle Police Department. The Whatcom County Sheriff’s Office also assisted in the investigation, the DOJ release states.

Resources

▪ Brigid Collins Family Support Center: 360-734-4616, brigidcollins.org

Brigid Collins Family Support Center professionals are on-call between 10 a.m. and 2 p.m., Monday through Friday, to answer questions about children, families, abuse prevention or treatment at (360) 734-4616.

▪ Child Protective Services: Washington state hotline for reporting child abuse and neglect, 866-829-2153.

▪ Domestic Violence & Sexual Assault Services: 24-hour Help Line: 360-715-1563, Email: info@dvsas.org.

▪ Lummi Victims of Crime: 360-312-2015.

▪ Tl’ils Ta’á’altha Victims of Crime: 360-325-3310 or nooksacktribe.org/departments/youth-family-services/tlils-taaaltha-victims-of-crime-program/

▪ Bellingham Police: You can call anonymously at 360-778-8611, or go online at cob.org/tips.

▪ WWU Consultation and Sexual Assault Support Survivor Advocacy Services: 360-650-3700 or wp.wwu.edu/sexualviolence/.

If you or a child is in immediate danger, call 911 and make a report to law enforcement.

To report child abuse or neglect call 1-866-END HARM.