Norfolk, Va. – A 31-year-old former Navy pilot was convicted Monday by a federal jury on 31 counts involving the creation of child pornography.
Daniel Chase Harris of Virginia Beach was indicted on September 17, 2014 after his original arrest in November 2013. At the time, he was a Lieutenant in the Navy and Navy Top Gun instructor stationed at Naval Air Station Oceana.
An investigation had revealed that Harris posed online as a teenage boy and convinced teenage girls between the ages of 12 and 17 to send him inappropriate pictures of themselves. He then extorted the girls to send him more sexually graphic and explicit images or he threatened to expose the images online and send them to family or friends.
There were nine victims involved. All were from Virginia.
The 31 counts included production of child pornography, use of a facility of interstate commerce to entice a minor to engage in criminal sexual activity, receipt of child pornography, transportation of child pornography, possession of child pornography and obstruction of justice.
Harris will be sentenced on July 13th, 2015. He faces a maximum penalty of life in prison.
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