Cocoa Man Convicted Of Sex Trafficking Of A Child, Production Of Child Pornography

Kennedy Harris Jr. faces life in prison

BREVARD COUNTY • COCOA, FLORIDA – United States Attorney A. Lee Bentley, III announces that a federal jury found Kennedy Harris, Jr., (23, Cocoa) guilty of sex trafficking of a child, with force, fraud, or coercion, and production of child pornography.

He faces a maximum penalty of life in federal prison. His sentencing hearing is scheduled for December 19, 2016. Harris was indicted on May 11, 2016.

According to testimony and evidence presented at trial, in January 2016, Harris took in the victim, a 16-year old girl at the time, after she ran away from home. Harris then took sexually suggestive photographs of the victim and advertised her for sex on Backpage.com.

He also enticed the victim to engage in sexually explicit conduct for the purpose of photographing her. Over the course of approximately two weeks, the victim had sex with up to eight individuals per day, and gave the money to Harris.

In exchange for her sex acts, Harris gave the victim crack cocaine nearly every day. On February 10, 2016, the victim was recovered by the Cocoa Police Department.

This case was investigated by Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Brevard County Sheriff’s Office, and the Cocoa Police Department. It is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Tiffany L. Cummins.

This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse.

Led by United States Attorneys’ Offices and the Criminal Division’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section (CEOS), Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state, and local resources to locate, apprehend, and prosecute individuals who sexually exploit children, and to identify and rescue victims.

CLICK HERE for more information about Project Safe Childhood.

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