News

Hendersonville man sentenced to 17½ years on child porn charges

By Lightning Reports, Published: May 1, 2020

U.S. District Judge Kenneth D. Bell sentenced a 39-year-old Hendersonville man to 17½ years in prison on Thursday after his guilty plea last year on child pornography charges, U.S. Attorney Andrew Murray announced.

Bell also ordered Brian Scott Harden to pay a $5,000 special assessment, serve a lifetime term of supervised release and register as a sex offender after he is released from prison.
John A. Strong, Special Agent in Charge of the FBI in North Carolina, and Iredell County Sheriff Darren Campbell joined Murray in making the announcement.
According to court documents and information introduced at the sentencing hearing, law enforcement became aware that on June 13, 2018, Harden was distributing child pornography to another individual via Skype, an internet messaging app that allows users to video chat and share messages, images and videos.

Law officers executed a search at Harden’s residence, and seized multiple computer devices, cellular phones and a CD. A forensic analysis of the seized items revealed that Harden possessed more than 600 images of child pornography, including images of children under 12, and material depicting the violent, sadistic or masochistic sexual abuse of children.
As Harden admitted in filed court documents, prior to his arrest, he had been sending and receiving child pornography online for at least two years, authorities said. Harden further admitted that he frequently visited websites and chat rooms online to locate and download child pornography and to trade images with other individuals.
Harden pleaded guilty on Sept. 12 to distribution and attempted distribution of child pornography. Harden is currently in federal custody. All federal sentences are served without the possibility of parole.