Rocky Ridge man gets 45 years in prison for sexually exploiting girls
Jan. 4—A Rocky Ridge man was sentenced to 45 years in federal prison on Tuesday for the sexual exploitation of two minors to produce child pornography, officials said.
Dennis James Harrison, 40, pleaded guilty in August 2022 to exploiting two preteen girls, according to a news release from the Maryland U.S. Attorney's Office.
Chief U.S. District Judge James K. Breder also sentenced Harrison to lifetime supervision upon his release. Harrison will have to register as a sex offender for the rest of his life, the release said.
Harrison was already a registered sex offender at the time of his arrest from a previous conviction of possession of child pornography in August 2009, the release said.
According to the release, from at least September 2020 through August 2021, Harrison sexually abused a girl in various locations.
Harrison produced photos and videos of his abuse, the release said, and enticed the girl to send him sexually explicit photos of herself.
Additionally in 2018, Harrison used a hidden camera and mobile phone to produce images of a younger girl, in different states of nudity, the release said. The photos were taken in a bedroom and two bathrooms without her knowledge.
In August 2021, authorities searched Harrison's residence and found a cellphone Harrison used to document his abuse of the older girl, the release said. They also found additional digital devices with files depicting sexual abuse of children, including infants and toddlers, the news release said.
More than 14,000 files of child pornography were found, authorities said.
Follow Clara Niel on Twitter: @clarasniel
