A Pasco man scheduled to be sentenced Thursday for possessing child pornography reportedly shot and killed himself at his home before the 1:30 p.m. court hearing.
Randy Joe Harris, 55, pleaded guilty in June and admitted to grooming a 15-year-old girl in Illinois, who he successfully pressured to send him an explicit photo of herself.
He sent her numerous sexually explicit photos and messages, according to court documents.
At the time Harris was a prison correctional officer, said the girl's father, who traveled to the Tri-Cities to speak at the sentencing hearing in the Richland federal courthouse.
He had been prison guard for 24 years at Coyote Ridge Corrections Center in Connell before he lost his job after he was arrested in November 2022, according to court documents.
Harris was concerned that he would be targeted because of his former job if he served time in Washington and had asked to be sentenced to a prison out-of-state.
Initially on Thursday, U.S. Judge Mary Dimke said that Harris had suffered a medical emergency and the sentencing would have to be postponed.
She offered the victim's father a chance to address the court then, but he said he wanted Harris to hear what he had to say.
An hour later the U.S. Marshal's Service reported that Harris had died at his home where he was being electronically monitored while on house arrest pending his sentencing.
Franklin County Coroner Curtis McGary later told the Tri-City Herald that the death was being investigated as a suicide. He arrived at Harris' home shortly before 3 p.m.
Dimke reconvened the hearing and allowed the girl's father to address the court.
"The scars etched into her heart and soul are a permanent reminder of the evilness she endured," he said.
Sometime before November 2021, when Harris was 53, he began communicating with the girl on a free Internet chatmail. They exchanged thousands of communications, according to court documents.
Harris spent his personal time on the Internet using false personas, including "Grace," the identity he used with the victim in the case for which he was prosecuted.
He portrayed himself as a middle-age woman and talked to her on the phone using a voice that could be mistaken for a woman's.
He knew she was 15 and that she was planning a sweet 16 party when he spoke to her, according to a court document.
The girl's father said she had been bright and vivacious before Harris preyed on her. She had a zest for life and an eagerness to embrace new opportunities, he said.
"My heart breaks each day as I see the stark changes in my daughter," he said.
She is consumed with guilt and shame, he said.
She isolates herself in her bedroom much of the time and has thought about suicide, he said, wiping his eyes.
Hobbies and activities she once enjoyed, like sports, have lost all appeal for her, and her school grades have dropped.
Harris's actions have left the entire family in sadness and despair, he said.
The father said that Harris had approached young children even after his arrest.
"He has clearly done much worse," he said.
His fiancée, whose letter the father read in court, agreed.
A child family therapist for 25 years, she has worked with many victims of child abuse.
The ease with which Harris groomed her soon-to-be stepdaughter showed that he had done it before, she said. Based on her experience and training, she said she also believed that he probably also had physically abused a child.
She had known Harris' 15-year-old victim for 10 years and seen a girl who was once confident and trusting become very guarded.
She was afraid of Harris and not sure what he would do if she did not comply with his demands, the fiancée said.
Now her family knows the girl was having panic attacks and insomnia, she said.
She has counseled adults who where child victims who struggle with substance abuse and mental health issues, she said.
The father of the 15 year old said nicotine, alcohol and drugs had been an issue during the time she was being targeted by Harris.
His daughter has been in therapy and will continue to require a substantial amount of counseling to try to put Harris's actions behind her, according to a court document.
10-year prison sentence requested
Harris's attorney, Jennifer Barnes of Yakima asked Dimke in court documents to give Harris a sentence of four years in prison.
Harris was remorseful and wanted counseling to understand his behavior and to never repeat it, she said in a court document.
The U.S. Attorney's Office of Eastern Washington was going to ask for a 10-year term. Harris would have gone on the sex offender registry and pay restitution.
