Bucks County District Attorney, then the first deputy, did not mince her words last November at a press conference to announce the arrest of Brian Nathaniel Harris, 29, of Pond Street for heinous crimes against children, one he was entrusted with, which was a family member.
“A predator living among us like this is a community’s worst fear.”
That palpable fear is no more when it comes to Harris who was facing more than 155 felony counts (161 in total). After he entered an open guilty plea Friday afternoon in front of Common Pleas Judge Gary B. Gilman, he was sentenced to 18-42 years in state prison, three years of probation, ordered to undergo sex offender treatment and a mental health evaluation for sexually assaulting three children, recording the assaults, and sharing some of the recordings on various social media sites.
Gilman said before imposing Harris’ sentence that he spent a good deal of time reading and researching treatments offered to sex offenders and it was clear to him there is no treatment that is effective in reducing offender behavior and as such, he must consider community safety first.
During the sentencing hearing, Harris’ parents were sitting directly behind the sentenced man, next to this reporter.
Relatives of the victims packed a courtroom at the Criminal Justice Center on Friday with some victims providing statements to Judge Gilman on how Harris’s crimes have impacted the lives of the victims and their families.
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One of Harris’ victims, a teen aged boy living with a serious health issue at the time, said in a voice devoid of emotion, he thought Harris was his friend.
“For years, he convinced me that he was a trusted friend, and that he would always protect me,” he said. “For four years, I kept what the defendant did to me a secret. Every day I worried it would happen again. Hiding it took a huge toll on my mental health. Even now, while it is no longer a secret, I am still learning how to process all of my feelings.”
The young man told the judge that he wants a sentence that would make sure Harris “never has the chance to hurt another child, or their family, the way that he has hurt me and my family.”
Gilman said to the young man, you are a brave, articulate, smart young man to share what you did.
Prosecutor Kristin M. McElroy, after the impact statements, ticked off reasons why Harris should never be allowed back into a free society. She cited a juvenile arrest in which Harris was sent to Raven Hill, a forensic inpatient youth facility that deals with sexually problematic behaviors. Harris later admitted not taking part in the treatment offered in any meaningful way because his lawyer told him not to say anything. It wasn’t the last time his sexually assaultive behavior was exposed as he was confronted for placing his hands on a girl not more than 6 years old, which was not reported to authorities but managed by his parents.
A woman sitting in the back row of the courtroom shrieked in pain upon hearing the new yet old information.
Last year, the Bucks County District Attorney’s Office received a CyberTip from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children that said a person shared an image of child pornography on the social media site Snapchat. The investigation led authorities to Harris.
Asked if she was happy with the sentencing, McElroy said, I’m truly happy for the victims and their families getting some justice today.
This case was investigated by Bucks County Detectives with assistance from Homeland Security Investigations, the Attorney General’s Office, the United States Marshal Service, Falls Township Police Department, and the Bristol Borough Police Department.
To read the two criminal complaints filed against Harris last year you can click here.