Bellingham man facing federal charges for alleged attempt to sexually assault child
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A 27-year-old Bellingham man is facing federal child sex crime charges after he allegedly went to a hotel to sexually assault an 8-year-old child and film the abuse.
Clayton Paul Harker was charged Wednesday, Dec. 21, with one count of attempted enticement of a minor and one count of attempted production of child pornography, both felonies, in the Western District of Washington in Seattle. If convicted, Harker faces a mandatory minimum sentence of 10 years in prison up to life for the attempted enticement charge, while the attempted production of child pornography charge carries a mandatory minimum sentence of 15 years in prison up to 30 years, according to a Wednesday afternoon U.S. Department of Justice news release on Harker’s arrest.
Harker made his first appearance in federal court Wednesday, and is being held at the SeaTac federal detention center, according to the news release.
Federal prosecutors also filed a motion Wednesday to detain Harker pretrial because he’s accused of a crime of violence, to ensure his future appearances in court and for the “safety of any other person and the community,” the federal court records state. A formal detention hearing for Harker has been scheduled for Dec. 29, federal court records show.
Harker’s case is being investigated by Homeland Security Investigations, as part of the Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force based out of the Seattle Police Department. The Whatcom County Sheriff’s Office also assisted in the case, the news release states.
Law enforcement agencies are continuing to investigate Harker’s online activities, including allegations that he pressured young girls for sexually explicit photos, according to the news release.
The case
In November, a special agent with Homeland Security Investigations assigned to the Blaine office received a request from the Portland, Oregon, office to help with a child exploitation investigation involving Snapchat accounts, according to federal court records.
A search warrant served in early November on a Snapchat account whose user lives in Virginia produced nine gigabytes of data that contained thousands of media files, including photographs and videos, of sexually explicit content involving females, most of whom appeared to be under the age of 18, the court records state. The data also contained chat messages between the Virginia-based Snapchat user and hundreds of other Snapchat users, in which the Virginia-based Snapchat user claimed to represent a modeling agency and was soliciting underage females for sexually explicit content in exchange for money, the federal court records state. The Virginia-based Snapchat user also extorted the minors to get additional imagery, the court records state.
In a preliminary review of the data, Homeland Security Investigations agents found chat logs from June 29 through Oct. 27 in which the Virginia-based Snapchat user exchanged hundreds of messages with another Snapchat user, who was later identified as Harker, the court records state. In the messages, Harker and the Virginia-based Snapchat user discussed the sexual exploitation of children, sharing, collecting and selling child pornography, how to groom children to have them produce child pornography, sexual trafficking of children and raping children, according to the federal court records.
Harker allegedly stated repeatedly that he wanted to rape a child and offered the Virginia-based Snapchat user $1,000 to rape the user’s 7-year-old niece. The user agreed, the court records state.
Harker also allegedly said he “is a collector of child pornography,” and admitted to receiving and distributing child pornography, court records show.
In messages exchanged with the Virginia-based Snapchat user, Harker allegedly asked the user if they knew of children in Washington state, if they had sexually explicit videos and images of children being abused and said he was excited to sexually assault children or view them being assaulted, the federal court records state.
An undercover special agent in the Portland Homeland Security Investigations office messaged Harker on Snapchat in mid-November, pretending to have a 3-year-old child and an 8-year-old niece. Harker told the agent his name was Clayton and that he lived in Bellingham. Harker allegedly expressed “a strong desire” to meet and sexually assault the undercover agent’s fake daughter or niece, and said he would travel to Oregon to meet them, the records state. He also asked to take pictures of the abuse, the court records state.
In late November, Harker messaged a separate Snapchat account that was controlled by the Homeland Security Investigations agent in the Blaine office. That agent pretended to be the Portland agent’s 8-year-old niece, the records show.
On Dec. 20, Harker and the undercover Portland agent’s account made plans to meet that afternoon at a Bellingham hotel near the airport.
Law enforcement who were surveilling Harker watched him leave his house Tuesday and drive to the hotel. Shortly before 4 p.m., Harker got out of his vehicle carrying a black bag and headed toward the back door of the hotel. Federal agents arrested Harker before he entered the hotel, the court records and news release state.
In an interview with federal agents, Harker admitted it was his Snapchat account, that he intended to sexually assault an 8-year-old child, that he has a sexualized interest in children ranging from infants to minors in their early teens, the court records state.
Harker also allegedly admitted that he has “extorted ‘a lot’ of minors” thought to be between 11 and 14 years old. Harker said he allegedly threatened to post sexually explicit images of the minors online in order to coerce them into creating additional sexually explicit imagery for him, the federal court records state.
Harker has no previous felony history in federal or county court, according to court records.
Resources
If you or someone you know is experiencing domestic violence or sexual assault, you can contact the following local resources for free, confidential support:
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 Survivor Advocacy Services at the Counseling & Wellness Center: 360-650-7982 or https://cwc.wwu.edu/survivorservices.
Brigid Collins Family Support Center: 360-734-4616, brigidcollins.org.
This story was originally published December 22, 2022 at 5:00 AM.
