‘SADISTIC’

Ex-Army National Guard Recruiter Jailed for Sexually Abusing Child on Military Base

A judge described the crimes as “indescribably cruel.”

A former Air Force special agent was sentenced to 10 years in prison on Monday after admitting to sexually abusing a young child on a military base.

Joshua Carl Harrod, 44, of Spanaway, Washington, pleaded guilty to enticement of a minor in October. He also pleaded guilty to making a false statement to a government agency after attempting to falsify phone records that were related to evidence in the case, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Western District of Washington announced.

Records filed in the case state that Harrod sexually abused a young child left in his care between October 2017 and 2018. At the time, he was stationed at Joint Base Lewis-McChord in Washington. The Attorney’s Office said Harrod left the Air Force before his arrest and found work as a recruiter for the Army National Guard in Lakewood, Washington.

At a sentencing hearing Monday, U.S. District Judge Benjamin Settle called Harrod’s crimes “sadistic” and “indescribably cruel.” “The consequences of many crimes before me do not have the impact that this one does,” Settle said. “Victims of these crimes carry with them a life sentence.”

After completing his decade-long prison term, Settle ordered that Harrod be put on supervised release for the rest of his life.

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Dan Ladden-HallBreaking News Editor

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