Convicted Sex Offender Molests Teen Less Than A Year Out Of Jail

ATLANTA -- A convicted sex offender is going back to jail after he admitted to police that he molested someone he knew to be a child. Joshua Harris, 38, was convicted earlier this week after police received a cyber tip from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children. The tip was regarding an online conversation between Harris and a 13-year-old boy.

On June 11, 2016, Special Agent Haylee Deloach of the Georgia Bureau of Investigation received the tip. The chat between Harris and the victim began on June 9, 2016, when the victim said he was 13 years old and gay. At Harris' request, the boy sent explicit photographs of himself. In return, Harris sent the victim similar pictures. The youth also provided his telephone number and home address to the defendant.

Later on June 9, 2016, Harris again messaged the victim to let the boy know he was outside of his residence. The two had previously agreed to meet outside the boy’s home and have sex in Harris’ van. However, Harris was scared off and drove away from the house when the victim’s grandfather returned to the residence.

Several days later, on June 12, 2016, Harris returned to the victim’s home in his van, where he and the victim had sexual contact. Harris was already on probation for a 2005 aggravated child molestation conviction in Walton County for which he had only been out of prison for less than a year. In that case, Harris also targeted a teenage victim using an internet messaging application.

Following a forensic interview with the victim, a search warrant was executed at Harris’ home on
July 25, 2016. During the execution of this warrant, the defendant stated he targeted his victims using two different internet messaging applications. Deloach asked Harris if he had ever
engaged in sexual relations with someone he knew to be a child, and the defendant nodded and said, “I made a mistake.”

Harris has been sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole.

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Image Fulton County Jail