Sex trafficking children lands Missoula man in prison for 12 years
(Missoula Current) A Missoula man will spend the next 12 years in prison for paying teenage girls as young as 14 years-old to have intercourse, the U.S. Attorney's Office said Friday.
Cody Alan Harrington, 29, pleaded guilty in July to two counts of sex trafficking children. His sentence also includes 10 years of supervised release.
In court documents, the government alleged that for seven years prior to his arrest, Harrington consistently targeted 14- and 15-year-old minors to engage in illegal sexual activity.
In November 2022, two women, identified as Jane Doe 1 and Jane Doe 2, contacted the Missoula Police Department to report that when they were under the age of 18, Harrington had paid each of them to have sex on multiple occasions.
Jane Doe 1 reported that she had met Harrington over Snapchat in the summer of 2019, when she was 14 and Harrington was 25. She said Harrington offered to pay her to have sex with him.
Jane Doe 1 engaged in commercial sex with Harrington for the first time in August 2019 in Missoula County, after which Harrington paid her $300. Harrington paid her on at least two other occasions in 2019 to have sex with him, according to documents.
Harrington also interacted with Jane Doe 2 while interacting with Jane Doe 1, and knew Jane Doe 2 was a minor because she told him her age. Jane Doe 2 reported that she engaged in commercial sex with Harrington for the first time in August 2020, when she was 15, and that he paid her $400.
Jane Doe 2 further reported Harrington paid her to engage in sex with him on multiple occasions from when she was 15 to 17, all in Missoula County.
The case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Brian C. Lowney prosecuted the case. The Missoula County Sheriff’s Office, Missoula Police Department and FBI’s Child Exploitation and Human Trafficking Task Force conducted the investigation.
For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.justice.gov/psc.