Woodland Park man facing several felony charges for child sexual assault, exploitation
WOODLAND PARK, Colo. (KRDO) -- A Woodland Park man was arrested Friday, accused of assaulting underage children and selling pornographic images of his young victims on social media.
19-year old Samuel Harris faces several felony level charges including sexual assault of a child under the age of 15, and three sexual exploitation of a child charges.
Harris was taken into custody at his workplace Friday morning at Tractor Supply Co. off of Highway 67 near downtown Woodland Park.
According to police, minutes after the 19-year old clocked in for his shift, investigators had Harris in cuffs and were escorting him to jail.
The investigation began in November of 2021 when an alleged victim reported Harris to a Student Resource Officer at Woodland Park High School.
Harris is accused of filming sex acts between two underage children, sexually assaulting a 14-year old child, and selling sexually explicity photos of underage children on Snapchat for $20 a picture.
Hours after his arrest on Friday, Woodland Park police say Harris posted his $20,000 bond and was released from the Teller County Jail.
13 Investigates attempted to reach out to Harris' public defender named in his arrest warrant on Sunday. However, we were unable to contact the 19-year old's defense team for comment.
With a search warrant, investigators seized Harris’ phone, which is currently in the hands of the Colorado Springs Police Department's Digital Forensic Detectives.
Court documents alleged that Harris would not provide investigators the passcode to his phone. Using an algorithm, CSPD detectives are working to obtain that passcode, but the process could take days or even several years, according to court records.
Despite this, investigators say they've obtained pictures, messages, and videos containing four underage children ingesting narcotics and engaging in other hazardous behaviors.
From Harris’ iCloud account, investigators say they obtained multiple videos with pornographic images of underage children shot on Harris' phone.
Woodland Park Police are asking anyone who may have been victimized by Harris to contact their department as soon as possible.
Following Harris' arrest, Woodland Park Police Chief Chris Deisler provided a statement to 13 Investigates:
“The arrest of Sam Harris is the result of an exhaustive investigation by numerous members of the Woodland Park Police Department who work in several areas of the agency. Our collective goal is and will be the safeguarding of our community and, most particularly, our children. Anyone in our city who has chosen to prey upon them in any way should continue looking over their shoulder because we will not tolerate it. Putting handcuffs on them, too, at any time or any place is not a matter of “if” but a simple matter of “when”.
Woodland Park Police Chief Chris Deisler
To contact the Woodland Park Police Department, click here.
