A Washington, man has been sentenced to 27 years in prison for sex trafficking a six-year-old girl.
Trever Daniel Harder, 35, of Spokane, will be on federal supervision for life and will be required to register as a sex offender when released from prison, a news release said. He must also pay nearly $30,000 in restitution and a $5,000 special assessment under the Justice for Victims of Trafficking Act.
“Today the Court addressed the egregious sexual abuse of a child. Its sentence is significant, but it pales in comparison to what the child has endured,” U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District Vanessa Waldref said in the release. “No sentence can return the child’s innocence, but our community is safer and stronger with these two defendants in federal prison. Most important, the child is now in a safe place. My office will continue to prioritize cases involving individuals who seek to exploit and abuse children online or in person.”
Harder reportedly sought sexual contact with the girl after he met an adult woman online in early 2021 through the social media application Plenty of Fish, the release said. The woman had access to the girl.
“Harder and the adult woman negotiated a series of transactions in which Harder gained sexual access to the child by providing the adult woman with a place to stay, cash and the promise of new Nike sneakers,” the release said. “Harder then engaged in illicit sexual acts with the minor victim."
A multi-decade sentence was imposed on the woman earlier this year after she was “convicted of conspiracy to engage in the sex trafficking of a child,” the release reported. Harder was sentenced Dec. 7 by U.S. District Judge Thomas Rice.
Assistant U.S. Attorney David Herzog prosecuted the case and thanked the investigatory agencies for protecting the victim, according to the release.
“Incredibly dedicated FBI agents worked hand-in-hand with state, local and Tribal law enforcement to secure justice for the victim in this case and to protect this child from further sexual abuse,” Herzog said.
